2011 Mulsanne

John Bevan · Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:45 pm Post subject: 2011 Mulsanne

Evening Chaps, I have been running the above for 4-5 years, the car is obviously regularly serviced and has only done 40,000 miles. I had been noticing a slight "rear end noise" for a couple of months and long story short it is the rear axle diff.
It seems that nobody rebuilds these items and a new replacement diff is £3,000, with vat and fitting I shall be lucky to have any change out of £5,000. We buy these cars under the perception of quality but the reality of matters is that this part has failed in a third of the time you would expect a Skoda to fail in. Has anybody got a magic trick to sort me out ?
Regards
John.

Martin Webster · Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2022 5:28 pm Post subject:

Hi John,
I can thoroughly recommend Hardy Transmission Engineering in Leatherhead Surrey for differential and gearbox rebuilding. The company has been overhauling and rebuilding transmissions and gearboxes for over fifty years.Bill Mcdonough is your contact . They rebuilt my AH gearbox and differential and I was very happy with the result.

John Bevan · Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2022 8:07 pm Post subject: 2011 Mulsanne

Evening Martin, Thank you for this information, this is exactly what I was hoping for.
I shall give them a ring and have a chat and let you know how I get on. Thanks again, Regards John.

Christopher Carnley · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 10:26 am Post subject:

John,

Change the oil to straight Castrol SAE EP140, and add two containers of Slick 50, PTFE treatment. That takes about 1000 miles to have a good effect.

If that fails,you could also try Westminster Autos (dismantlers), for used one.

These diffs whine a bit, many were replaced, but not all.

Martin,

I recall a certain "wobble", and a referral.

Martin Webster · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 1:08 pm Post subject:

Ah, yes the wobble Chris! Tbh I had quite forgotten that but it had a successful outcome in the end and the gearbox and differential are still running smoothly after several thousand hard miles.
Martin

John Bevan · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 5:20 pm Post subject: 2011 Mulsanne

Evening all, We did change the oil (because we did not know what else to do) with the oil that Bentley suggest (ie what was in it) that obviously was a waste of time, so perhaps we should try your mixture !
I would have concerns about putting a diff in from a breakers as I am unlikely to find a car with much less than 40,000 miles (as my car is) and that has failed. I will be making further enquiries regarding getting my diff rebuilt.
Thank you for your replies.
Regards John.

John Bevan · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:42 am Post subject: 2011 Mulsanne

Good afternoon, everybody, I thought that I was on to something with the recommendation for Hardy engineering for the work on my Mulsanne's diff. They seem a nice bunch but were surprised that this item was failing at this cars milage (we all are!). Unfortunately, the car is too "new" for them to work on.
There must be a joke here somewhere that some cars are too old but my one is too new. I believe that it is time to bite the bullet and order a OE replacement unit. You often hear that things are not made like they used to be, this looks a good case in point......... John.

TimberWolf · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:14 pm Post subject:

Am clearly a bit late to this one(!) but I took on a 2012 Mulsanne last year and it had the same problem, although it really was quite noticeable. Apparently it was a really common issue which is really very poor. I was lucky enough to have bought from Hanwells who had the diff replaced with a brand new one under their 2 month unlimited warranty.

John Bevan · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:28 pm Post subject: 2011 Mulsanne

Evening Chaps. Hello to "TimberWolf", Thank you for your reply to my "Diff" woes. It is interesting to hear that I am not the first with this issue. Since my last post I have been trying to get someone to take the job on, it seems that a few of the Bentley specialists consider the job to large ! I was wondering if the job would be in the £5,000 ballpark it now seems that it will be a couple of thousand more than that. As recently as this afternoon I have settled on a garage to undertake the job. Full marks to TimberWolf to have bought a car with a warranty, in this case it has been prudent, and very worthwhile. Just how a brand like Bentley considers it normal for it's customers to require this level of work to replace a Diff after 38,000 miles is beyond me.