Rear diff oil leak in mondo mode.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb237/HippoPhoto/Keep/reardiff.jpg

I have been having problems with a knocking noise to the rear so have had the prop removed by a garage. It seemed to be running fine for a few days until a day or so ago when it starting banging.

The rear diff now looks like the picture in the link above, but it is leaking a lot of oil all over it and is knocking worse than with the prop on. Is the some type of plate that I can fit to stop the leak and the noise? I have seen ones for the IRD end, but not for the back.

Would a plate even stop the noise? Can I remove any more of the diff to stop the noise?

thanks in advance.

sounds to me like your pinion bearings are knackered - no plate fix im afraid!
Check the bushes are not shot too as these cause the diff to knock against underside of the car..grab that front bit in your pic and try to push it up and down..the whole diff should be fairly tight..if the diff nose shaft (the bit you bolt onto prop) makes a metally knocking noise then its ya bearings shot chief...new bearings, crush washer and oil seals needed im afraid. Havent ever hear of anyone removing the pinion gear and blanking it

When you grab the nose bit it turns about 1/8th of a turn and makes a metallic knocking sound. Are these hard to replace or can you get a replacent rear diff cheap? Happy with it as a two wheel drive, just want to stop the oil leak and the knocking.

Update:

have taken out the bold and replaced the oil seal. It appears to have stopped the oil leak, but the knocking is still there.

Question - Once I had removed the nut and the circular bit that attatched to the prop the bit on the inside (some sort of spline?) made the noise when rocked forward and back. Could I simply remove this as I am running in two wheel drive or will the rear diff still be in use?

thanks.