Front diff help

Well I got a secondhand diff from paddocks, the diff looked in good condition with hardly any play in in compared to my one, once dismantled my diff didn't realy look that bad, no teeth missing or obvious sighns of wear. On taking everything apart I found that the stub axle bolts on passenger side were done up less than finger tight with 3 of them sticking out around half inch, inside the swivel housing it was scored where the swivel had been making contact and the bronze bushes were completely worn my mate reckoned the swivel would be OK as only scored on the rim outside, so I got new bronze bushes and replaced all oil seals put the new secondhand diff on already put new she'll bearings in, gave the whole thing a good clean and put it all back together with one shot grease inside the swivels and ep90 in the diff. Test drive and everything seems a lot better and quiete but a still have like a harmonious groaning noise when I get to around 40mph and increases in sound as speed increases, my question is could the shaft be bent where the stub axle was loose or could I need new swivels ,cvs.

What did the shaft of the cv joint look like? If the part where it sits in the bush was mangled that would be noisy. How about the splines on it and in the drive member - they could be loose and grinding if the bush was so bad that it was letting it all move around as you drove. And to be a bit pessimistic - you need to check all the other bolts, on that axle at least.

I checked all the bolts yea looks like it was just chucked together, the shaft was fine w here is sits inside the bush, nice and smooth and tight fit with new bush, all splines looked good all way through axle with little to no play,the worst bit was where the swivel sits in the housing the edge was rubbing on housing but now all tight am I right in saying it is not in contact with anything, just drove home from work and there is definately a droning noise there, not realy loud but gets louder faster you go

The housing damage may not be as bad as you think - they're quite crudely milled out inside.

I'm wondering if the cv joint got strained by having to do a job that it's not designed for. It would be interesting to know if it gets worse on tight corners, but if it only happens at 40+ we don't want you trying that.

One thought is the replacement diff. Do you know its history? Just wondering if had been rebuilt and maybe slightly off in the adjustments.

And just to be clear - have you looked at the state of the internals at the other end of the axle?

Thanks for ya help, I did have the other end of the axle apart to check and replaced the bronze bush,seals and wheel bearings that side too, I don't know the history of the diff but I did give it a good inspection and everything seemed nice and tight with no play in it, maybe it could be the cv joint, I couldn't believe how loose the stub axle was you could actually wiggle it on and off the main axle by about 4 mm. Think I will get someone else ta come for a drive with me before I do anything else to it, maybe I am overthinking the noise, my mate was with me yesterday and said he couldn't hear it,
If there is anyone near by ta me who would be willing ta come on a little test drive and give me there opinion it would help

Midge28 said:

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

Click to expand...

The postie would not be pleased with that in his sack.

Think I have found the problem, the groaning rumbling was closer than I thought, I thought I would drain the transfer box oil and have a look in the inspection case, upon draining I found it was filled with the wrong oil , red stuff come out, looking into the inspection case the gears are very loose and lots of play, can move them about very easily. So I replaced the inspection cover for time being and filled it up with ep90 took it out and now the noise is worse than ever, think I need a new transfer box, not sure what route to go down now, shall I get a secondhand one and fit myself or reconditioned or just get one supplied and fitted, it has a ratio sticker on the transfer case 1.211.
Would this be out of a discovery, just thinking as the engine 200tdi came from a discovery so would they have fitted the transfer box also. Is there anywhere in Kent that do transfer boxes fitted

Sounds like someone used 'normal' ATF gearbox oil so you did right swapping the transfer box oil to EP. Disco transfer is usually 1.2, Defenders are usually 1.4 ..

I'd remove both front and rear prop shafts and check the transfer output bearings before going much further. Awkward job but should help if they're at all loose. At the same time check all 4 UJ's too ..

Cheers Paul, I have already replaced both the ujs with new ones, looking inside the inspection cover on transfer the gearing is realy loose, looking inta getting another as the noise has got worse since putting new oil in

Update on my noise problem, I fitted a recon transfer box and things are a lot better but still have the slight rumbling noise that seems to be almost rythmic along with some vibration I can feel at the gearstick and increases with speed. But disappears if I dip the clutch
So I have replaced the diff with a secondhand one from paddocks, looked in good condition with no play
Recon transfer box
New wheel bearings
New bronze bush on stub axles and new one shot grease
But still can't seem to get rid of this rumbling noise
Any ideas what to try next maybe the fault is the swivel where the stub axle was on loose