Thats my plan fella, ill drop the old oil out and pop some nice fresh in and try it before i start looking at drastic options, but tbh by the sounds of it i think its i bit past that, its not half making a row! Not whining as such, its for all intents and purposes like a wheel bearing when they start to rumble and drone, but louder, and obviuosly it speeds and slows with road speed, as opposed to engine speed. Other than being a bit stiff to get first gear when its cold on a crawl upto a junction say, (which it always has been, as were my mk6 and mk4 Escorts,) and once in a blue moon it'll snick when it goes into second, its got no problem selecting or holding gears.

I think an LSD might be slightly overkill for a 1.3 endura and all of it 60-something ponies haha