Front diff help

Hia all, I have a 1990 defender, still soughting out problems, I renewed the front wheel bearings today as there was a droning noise. After i fitted them thought I would refresh the diff oils , the rear was fine and oil was clean, the front one was very metallic and managed to get these 2 lumps of metal from the casing. I guess it is my front diff making the racket. After changing the oils it is quieter but still droning. Can anyone tell me what replacement diff I would need, would it be 10 or 24 spline, I am new to this and not sure how to tell the differance, been trying to read up and look at old posts but not sure what I am gonna be looking for

Take drive shaft out and count the splines on it.

Cheers , is there no way of telling without pulling the driveshaft out

Midge28 said:

Cheers , is there no way of telling without pulling the driveshaft out

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There is no other way of being sure.

Ok thanks, will have ta pull em out

Are the splines near the hub end of the shaft the same as the other end as when I was doing the wheel bearings it def had more than 10 splines on it

Midge28 said:

Are the splines near the hub end of the shaft the same as the other end as when I was doing the wheel bearings it def had more than 10 splines on it

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It's the number of splines where the drive shaft goes into the diff you need to look at.

Ok thanks wammers, will take one out weekend

Midge28 said:

Ok thanks wammers, will take one out weekend

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Don't forget that getting a front driveshaft out is a fair bit more work than a rear due to CV joints / Brake disk / calipers etc

Yea I know, I done both front wheel bearings today. Wasn't as bad as I thought, took me around 3 hours.
Gonna take one out tomorrow afternoon to see how many splines so can get all the bits for weekend
When I tackle it what other seals and gaskets should I have to replace

Or remove the bolts that hold the whole lot to the end of the axle and slide the lot out

Yours probably uses EP90 in the swivel housings, I assume you have some left over from the diff oil change, if your swivel housing doesn't have a drain point at the bottom then it may have one shot grease in the housing that will need topping / replacing up once you have refitted the stub axle / CV

IamRobbie said:

Or remove the bolts that hold the whole lot to the end of the axle and slide the lot out

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Agreed, but Op needs to make sure the bolts look in good(ish) condition before starting to save any cursing / swearing if they round off.

Right I will check see if it has a drain plug, I did use ep90 and have enough left to do the front diff. All the nuts look in pretty good condition so could be possible to remove the whole lot. If done this way are there any seals or gaskets need replacing, wanna get all the bits ordered

Shame your not closer I have a good 10 spline front axle for sale off my doner

Would ya post if it is a 10 spline I am after

I could send it on a pallet

There's a gasket (FTC3646x2) between the swivel ball and the axle casing at each end, and a one for the diff housing (7316). New bolts would make life easier (FTC3456x12 and FTC3454x2, washers FRC8530x14). Everything else needs more dismantling, so no point now.

Thanks for the parts advice, got the shaft out this afternoon, not as bad as I thought, took me about hour or so ta get it out and all back together, turns out it is a 10 spline so have ordered another, sorry foxyred I only need the diff, everything else looks good, hopefully

Not a problem, glad your sorted