Bonjour mes amis

[Voila le car]

Just signed on the dotted line to join fast frogs. Dunno why, 'cos my 306XRDT aint fast at the moment.
Curious bearing grumble type noise from left side of car when turning right. Goes away if the clutch is depressed which kinda eliminates CV's and wheel bearings. Methinks it's a failing planetary gear in the diff, but on inspection there's nothing obvious that you wouldn't expect in a car that's only done 387,000km.
I'm about to throw some more cash at the wee darling for a replacement diff head but just wanted to know if anyone else out there can confirm I'm on the right track.

[309munkey]

Yer.. gidday   pleased you could make it..!  sorry i have no help for your issues but no doubt one of these guys will be able to help.

[Griffe]

Hello our new friend!

Welcome along to our not-so-little-anymore-site!  

I know it sounds obvious but whst's the oil like in the box?  Not just the level but the condition?  Have you drained and refilled it?  Have you tried first adding some oil stabiliser?  (does absolute wonders!)  technically speaking TBH I don't know a huge amount about the 306 diesel box other than they are reasonably well known for being quite strong, given the 400K kms though it may be time for a rebuild!  When was the clutch last done?  If you are finding that the noise goes away when you put your foot on the clutch then it may be the release bearing...

It the clutch cable or hydraulic?

Sorry for asking twice as many questions back, just need a few more pieces of the puzzle in order to see more of the picture so we can help more!

[Carpentry]

I woulda said the clutch bearing thing too. All of those are good options, however the more you look, the more problems you might find!

Welcome along!

[Griffe]

Um yeah good point there Ken...

Remember, diagnosing faults is a process of elimination

[Carpentry]

Leave it cleaner/better than you found it stz

[CaM]

if it's only doing it turning one way then it could be pads/wheel bearings/something like that. the diff shouldn't make grotty noises really, usually you'll have more of a telltale sign of wear, or they blow completely.
recently I had a similar noise in the front of my toyota which was intermittent with cornering and the odd time braking. turned out to be metal to metal the pads were so worn! so it could be anythign really.
if it is in fact gearbox then you could probably pick up a few good secondhanders for the price of a simple rebearing of the existing box.
congratulations on the mileage too. pretty much blows any call on 'french car unreliability'. 400k on a small car is pretty grouse

[Voila le car]

THis is great! I just hope you guys are as quick to respond when I'm broken down on the side of some dark highway somewhere!
I had ruled the clutch bearings out for a couple of reasons: the sound is intermittent and only when turning right. As clutch loading is constant regardless of which direction one turns it is pretty hard to conclude that would be at fault.
I ruled the wheel bearings out for the same reason, although I accept the outer bearing would have slightly more load on it when turning away from it.
CV's were excluded because outer ones would make the noise more pronounced turning toward them and I've swapped inners without changing the symptoms.
The whole drive train is dead quiet when running straight ahead or turning left.
The fact the noise disappears when the clutch is depressed indicates it is sensitive to thrust. I have not thoroughly tested the thought that it may be louder under power than one a trailing throttle, but the clutch being engaged would tend to put more pressure on the drivetrain. And that really only leaves the spider gears as the things which operate differently when cornering, withe the left one spinning faster in relation to the right when turning right.
Hence diff.
But as I said a visual inspection of all the parts didn't show anything conclusive...
If someone could point out the error of this logic before I cough up for another trans I'd be grateful.
If not, and I buy the bits and it's still the same... well... c'est la vie, mes amis.

[Carpentry]

Ce n'est la vie. Est Peugeot

[Griffe]

Still sounds like the diff could be binding up under load and may be fixed (unless it's terminal) with some oil additive in the gearbox, it's worth a shot and def easier than replacing the box...

Another tip, try turning slowly while listening to the noise and then turn off the engine and see if the noise stops also and then push the clutch in to see if it alters it, that way you can dis cipher if it is 'running noise' eg release bearing...

Worth a try and do this is supermarket carpark at night etc FTW!

[red16v]

thrust bearing.

[emkaybb]

bonjour' j'mappelle emkay baby