Ticking noise from around back of gearbox

[ragtop]

Hi to all,
I have recently had lowering springs replaced with standard ones on my 86 323 by my local garage. I had some problems getting the right dampers and mounts from Euros, consequently the car was on axle stands for about 4 days. The first thing I noticed when collecting the car was a rotational ticking noise coming from around the back of the gearbox. The garage thought the jacking up etc may have disturbed the cv joint and replaced the drivers inboard one but the noise remains. They have run the car while jacked up and with their greased hands on the drive shafts but cannot pinpoint the cause! It is like a uj beginning to go but 'ticks' once each revolution changing tone slightly when going round corners, unlike a uj it is very regular and doesnt sound like something loose. It is not that loud but fairly solid and doesnt change with clutch or gears. I know this is a long shot but maybe someone will have experienced a similar problem. Thanks for any interest.Steve. P.S.Before anyone mentions it there arent any blue or red wires, or clocks.

[Brianmoooore]

They will have "stretched" the driveshafts a little past their normal max length when changing the rear springs. Shouldn't normally cause any problems, and E30 CVs are vitrtually everlasting in any case.
Obvious thing to do is to slode back the rubber boots on the CVs and see if any balls have escaped from the cage.
I've known this to happen on FWD drive shafts.

[ragtop]

Thanks will give it a look.Steve.