A front diff query and an EAS one

Hi all,

Following on from my "transmission noise " thread - thanks for input - wammers diagnosis re nose bearing - for the short term ( until repair sorted ) I have read here that removing the front prop shaft does not do any harm.

With a lot less stress on nose bearing will I be able to carry on for a while ?

Looking pics of front diffs for sale shows the prop flange end with gears - surely swapping a diff is not as simple as disconnecting front prop / drop oil/ undo circle of bolts ? What about the two front drive shafts gears/bearings ? Is there a shortcut ?

Re EAS there is occassionally hissing air near the (front LHS) base of airspring with engine running - badly seated airspring thinks I - when the engine is turned off no hissing - if there is a leak from that area it should leak engine off or on - no ?

Now got to search for the thread that contained a link to a guy who reconditions diffs - attends some motor fair called something like Billy I think .

Bye for now

Alex

Props off, drive shafts out, drain oil from axle, circle of bolts then bobs your uncle. No short cuts that I know of - if there are any it would be really handy for us to find out - saves time when we remove them!

Done a front diff swap on mine.....came without front prop when i bought it!!
Suspension on full height....leave door or 2 open to freeze eas
crack hub nuts loose...bloody tight!!
Jack and support on stands
wheels off
Drain diff oil
Brake caliper's off and tied up
Tea
Disc's off
Disc dirt shield off
CAREFULLY pull abs sensor out of hub
Tea
Remove bolts from rear of bearing carrier
Struggle like a **** to remove bearing carrier...puller may help..lots of wd
Tea.....bacon buttie
Pull half shaft out of axle case
Replace half shaft seal
Remove ring of nuts from diff
Remove diff
Tea....jammy dodgers
Refit is reverse of above but copper slip all fixings
Tea and medal's!!

This is how i did it....others may have other ways

everlatesparky said:

Done a front diff swap on mine.....came without front prop when i bought it!!
Suspension on full height....leave door or 2 open to freeze eas
crack hub nuts loose...bloody tight!!
Jack and support on stands
wheels off
Drain diff oil
Brake caliper's off and tied up
Tea
Disc's off
Disc dirt shield off
CAREFULLY pull abs sensor out of hub
Tea
Remove bolts from rear of bearing carrier
Struggle like a **** to remove bearing carrier...puller may help..lots of wd
Tea.....bacon buttie
Pull half shaft out of axle case
Replace half shaft seal
Remove ring of nuts from diff
Remove diff
Tea....jammy dodgers
Refit is reverse of above but copper slip all fixings
Tea and medal's!!

This is how i did it....others may have other ways

Click to expand...

There is another way. Include more tea breaks.

Thanks so far - with a worn diff nose bearing and front prop taken off will the car still be driveable for a few miles a day ?

I bought litre of diff fluid thinking diff must have lost a fair bit - only took 300 ml - out of diff capacity of 1700 ml . That nose bearing must be really sensitive.

Any idea why air occassionaly hissing out near base of the airspring would stop when the engine is turned off ?

Thanks

trukka said:

Thanks so far - with a worn diff nose bearing and front prop taken off will the car still be driveable for a few miles a day ?

I bought litre of diff fluid thinking diff must have lost a fair bit - only took 300 ml - out of diff capacity of 1700 ml . That nose bearing must be really sensitive.

Any idea why air occassionaly hissing out near base of the airspring would stop when the engine is turned off ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Your diff noise may increase as pinion will now be driven by crown wheel instead of other way round. But providing you have oil in there and flange is not moving about it maybe ok for a while. Are you sure air is not coming from EAS exhaust and not from air bag?

If it's a leaking airbag it would hiss engine off or on, I suspect it's the gas in the aircon going into the receiver dryer. Turn the aircon off and see if it stops.

Hi datatek

the aircon is off - red indicator on and when the bag is "prodded" the hissing noise gets a bit quieter

trukka said:

Hi datatek

the aircon is off - red indicator on and when the bag is "prodded" the hissing noise gets a bit quieter

Click to expand...

So you have your answer, airbag failure.

I don't think this is a total highjack of this thread but here goes

I have a lot of play in the front diff and from what i can make out it is a two pin unit, also i belive the rear is a four pin unit,

question is can a four pin diff be fitted into the front, If so are there any disadvantages or other things that need to be done.

It's a 4.6 1999>

Cheers
Ian

4 pin can be fitted in the front

datatek,

If the airbag was not seated right on the bottom piston or had a "pinhole" leak surely it would still hiss out air even when engine is off seeing as how there is still plenty of pressure in the bag ?

It doesn't happen all the time but when it does it takes a few minutes for height indicator to stop flashing.

Regards

The leaks open and close as the bag folds under at the bottom. do the soapy water spray test. If it's leaking enough for you to hear, it will shag the compressor.

bmp42 said:

4 pin can be fitted in the front

Click to expand...

Cheers mate

bmp42 said:

4 pin can be fitted in the front

Click to expand...

Check the number of drive shaft splines as there are two types..?

JellySpanners said:

Check the number of drive shaft splines as there are two types..?

Click to expand...

Cheers for that and i bet the only way to find out is to remove a shaft, mine is a 1999> model with the banana intake manifold not the box type, i bet it still could be either.

Also mine doesn't have the flexy coupling on the rear prop shaft, thought they all had them.