Am I in the right place?

[midlandyid]

It does sound like faulty diff bearings in the gearbox...  Quite a common problem on the 1.4, I had it happen twice!  I'd remove the drain plug on the gearbox and see if it's full of metal filings.

Thanks for the reply Tom, I'll take a look after work. Is this expensive to get fixed?

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Not as simple as exhaust fouling on the gearstick is it?

Thanks for the suggestion Matt! The car has fairly recently had a new central...pipe thing installed for the exhaust.