Snagger

Diffs always have some play - you have the backlash between the ring and pinion gears, the diff bevel gears and any slack in the bearings. There is a chance the backlash is excessive or that the bevel gears have worn their cup washers or cross pin and excessive movement, but the chances are that the bulk of the play is in the half shafts and drive flanges. You don’t normally get much spline wear on the diff end of the shafts, but they do wear on the outboard ends and the drive flanges are quite soft. That wear is even more so on 300Tdi and later axles with the slim hubs as their splines run dry. Whip the plastic cones off the hubs and have a look for movement between shaft and flange, or better still, remove the drive flanges and check the splines. Drive flanges are pretty cheap to replace.

It’s what I did with my 109 before I fit the 110 axles and alloys. I’d just spray a little paint into the plastic lid and use a modelling paintbrush to touch things up. Kept it smart and tidy.

Thanks. I was aware of those issues, but good to know I haven’t overlooked them. If I use the Dana, it should be without spacer as it’s 4.1:1. That would mean standard length bolts. If I have to keep the 4.71, then that will require a spacer and longer M12s.

😂😂😂

Given how infrequently you have to nuts, that paint would do just fine.

MPI maybe? I think it is probably a retrofit engine that the owner doesn’t realise isn’t original.

Nearly finished, then!

They look great quality, much better than the cheap set. I don’t like to spend that sort of money without confidence of using the parts, but I probably don’t have many US trips left in the near future, and having them sent to a hotel there would save me a fortune in shipping. I’ll try fitting the Dana ring gear on the ATB tomorrow. If it does fit, then it’ll all be down to that damned pinion and whatever magic Stephen can do with it, so I think I’ll order a set. If it doesn’t work, then maybe someone else can use them.

Like WMD…

That is great information. Thanks. The gears are stamped with DANA, so are genuine.

Yep. For all their practicality, flexibility and reliability, they have enormous potential for accidents. They tend to be unstable when lifting vehicles, for a start, prone to tipping over and dropping said vehicle. Never be in a position where the vehicle can fall on you with one of these things, and always use a block, axle stand or other “stand” once lifted.

I change transmission oils at every 10,000 miles (engine at 5000). That is ample. The other precautions are plenty. The best thing you can do though, is just have some sympathy and not be overly aggressive with the pedals. It’s shock loads that do the most harm, so if you can ease the clutch out and smoothly increase the throttle, the loadings will be significantly kinder to the entire transmission.

In that case, I’ll just have to hope the 1/2” bolts for the Dana gears fit the flange bolt holes on the ATB - I don’t really want to open them out 1/2mm just in case I need to refit the 4.71 gears; the extra clearance would not be good for the M12s. That’s assuming that Stephen can work his magic on the pinion in the first place. But the original 4.71 gear set will need a spacer ring (last I saw, Ashcroft only make them for the Rover diff, not Salisbury) and longer bolts, so knowing about the grades and problems in this thread is very useful. So, is 12.8 a bit too brittle for the application, and 8.8 or 10.8 a better choice?

That is why you only change the direction lever when the handle is parallel to the ladder bar.

Purple is the live feed for flashing the headlamps and the horn. It doesn’t connect to the indicators, as John said. If shorting the purple to the indicator output wires gives steady glow on the lamps, then the output side is good and you appear to have a fault with the feed between fuse box and the switch.

Any idea if that was just the 110 Salisbury, or the 109 too? They started the Salisbury on the 109 in 1972, but I think the big push (admittedly not ubiquitous) to metric was 1982 or 84.

Beat me to it. Great stuff. Just make sure the hollow of the plug is incredibly clean first. In fact, it may be better to machine a hollow for the magnet to sit in the outside of the plug under a retaining lip that would prevent it from being drawn up into the box if the epoxy should fail. Belt and braces.

Paging Nigel, paging Nigel… clean up in aisle three…. @Hybrid_From_Hell

Sorry that my suspicion turned out to be right. I suspect that the damage was caused by neglect and binary clutch and throttle control. I wouldn’t be surprised if something went through the gears, perhaps a piece of the transfer box it had been fitted to. I don’t want to seem like I’m taking the pee, but the new photo makes me suspect the next (third) tooth too. That is enough to make me suspect they all have similar damage, which would be very plausible.

Did you take a really close look at the tooth adjacent to the one you dressed? Looks suspicious to me.

And white is for ignition live circuits (key on “II” or “run”), A brand new switch isn’t necessarily a good switch, especially given the brand.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a full recovery.

Are you getting 12v at the live feed contact on the column switch with the ign on? If not, you have a break between there and the fuse box. If you do have 12v, try jumping the contacts with a wire to the output contacts or even unplugging the column switch and shorting the indicator switch feed to the output sockets. If they work, it’ll confirm the likelihood that the Britpart switch or its wiring is faulty.

Is the whirring loud or faint? If loud, then it would appear the starter motor is spinning but not engaging the flywheel ring gear. It could be a faulty starter or the ring gear, stripped teeth being the most likely cause. I don’t think the starter has a Bendix, so not likely to be a sticking throw, but I stand to be corrected.

Glad you found the cause and thus the solution.