Wheel bearing/ swivel pin housing/ diff oil

Hi

Recently replaced diff oils on my 200tdi Disco. Rear diff had about the correct amount drain out (1.7 litres). The front diff probably had about 3-3.5 litres come out and it was a brownish murky colour, nothing like the rear diff oil. Recently I have noticed a noise coming from the front of the car which increased with speed. Today I jacked the offside front wheel up and noticed some play in it top to bottom.

I know this could be the wheel bearing but could it be anything else like the swivel housing ?

How can I check to see where the problem is ?

Could the extra oil in the front diff be from the swivel housing ? I have to confess to taking the disco through water (deeper than 500mm) when I first got it so could of been some water in the diff oil.

Thanks

get someone to wobble wheel while you look to see if play in either or both ,oil will have worked its way thru from swivels to diff propably over some time + some water ,its good to change oil at least once a year and check if been wading

Just checked where the play is and it appears to be between the swivel ball and the hub assembly. By that I mean that when I wobble the wheel in the 12 & 6 position (with the wheel jacked up) the play appears to be between the back of the plate that the wheel bolts to and the swivel ball. Is this the bearing or is there something else I need to check ?

Also when I unbolted the drive member there was some water in their. Any ideas of where this could have come in ?

Thanks

wheel bearing from the sounds of your description

it could be needing a shim or two taken out of the swivel pins,mine was doing this after i fitted new wheel bearings,had play top to bottom,but side to side was fine,i took of top swivel pin and removed a couple of the shims and all is good,well one of my swivel bearings is shot but will get it done when overhaulling it in a month..
not sure on proper procedure for setting the swivel pins up,but if you do a search i'm sure you will get the info you need..

yes what you did was okay as long as you dont preload it too much

Just checked the diagram in the Haynes manual and the play is between the swivel pin housing and the swivel ball. Looking at the diagram I think it would be unlikely to be the wheel bearings, am I right ?

Thanks