diff on the way out

as above,when my td4 2002 model was in for its mot i noticed the out put seals on the rear diff leaking oil,drivers side the worse,as i dont always drive it i also noticed a whine whilst driving but thought it was prop bearings but now im not so sure there was a fair bit of movement up and down on the drive shaft output,any way i know you can get repair kits for diff is the a diy or would a garage need to do it? also will any rear diff fit this,ie 1.8 petrol and any year,think i read somewhere the made the bearings bigger on later models,as i cant afford to have it ff the road to long,so would fit second hand diff while the orginal was repaired,
cheers gus

The diffs arent that complicated but they take a lot to set back up if you overhaul them , lots of shims and correct backlashes to be set up with engineers blue. Mine had a leaky input pinion seal - it has been chaged 3 times now as well as the collapsable spacer and all of the bearings inside...and it still wines and has gone loose again on the pinion! Its being fixed under warranty but will probably end up with a different diff on it.

so, unless youve done them before or have a complete strip down guide I would steer clear of the DIY job at home, although a bearing and seal set will set you back about £60

I think your year of car would have the TVK000180 diff which has the upgraded/larger journal bearings

ok cheers,i would still like it rebuilt as a spare,so might get my local garage to do it,i take it even though it is the later diff with the bigger bearings a early diff would still fit ie the drive shaft cv joint will fit into the spline in the earlier unit?

make sure they do know how to reset diff there not difficult if you know diffs but easy to fook up , if you struggle to find someone let me know ,i do them and others