Club car DS differential issue

Hey,

Last week a customer brought in a club car DS regen car with noisy rear end. (Sorry did not make a point to remember year of the car). I first ruled out both axle bearings and determined they were ok. I removed the electric motor and inspected the bearing on the armature, it had a single rough or flat spot so I figured that could be it. The motor also had no guide ring or rubber bumper that I could see. So then I got busy. I drained the diff and cracked it open. Found no signs of metal shavings and I inspected the gear bearings. Every bearing was fine with no rough spots detected however I could not really "test" the innermost bearing on the input shaft because it was tucked away. I was able to slide the input shaft out slightly enough to get my fingers on the bearing and it did not appear to be bad. So I put new diff fluid in with some Lucas stabilizer and sealed it back up, also remembering to lightly hammer the input shaft back into position as I pulled it out of place to check the bearing.

So, the only bearing I found to be bad was in the motor. I changed the motor with a known good one and the rear end still made lots of noise. So I removed the new motor and added a rubber bumper having high hopes.....but still horrible noise. The noise it makes now sounds very gear like as I can hear the teeth of the gears whirring when I accelerate it. Almost as if it has no gear oil at all. So I am really confused....could this horrible noise be due to the input shaft bearing I "half checked" ? Also I have never removed the gears from a club car before. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated

Please and thanks!! :?