Differential a bit sluggish, why?

[lars s]

Hi, Im new to this forum, recentely bought a -72 914/4 as a project car everything looks well but...

...the (manual) gearbox was working OK when previous owner last drove it 22 years ago, no noise or shifting problems. He had a skilled mechanic to open it (and the engine) just to check and replace seals etc. Nothing special was found and it was properly put together (i trust) and have been resting indoors for some 20 years.
Now, when turning the flanges for the output shafts the movement is not even (no gear in), there is a bit of uneven resistance just like a roller bearing being bad.
Picked out the differential, the resistance and quite a bit of noise comes from the 4 small gears inside the diff so no roller bearing is involved. Some oil did make it a bit better but not much. It feels like the 4 gears are a bit to "tight", they like to stuck a bit now and then when rotating the shaft flanges by hand. Also the radial play of the output shaft is minimal.

Is this a problem and in that case what to do about it, or is it normal?


/Lars S