Rear Diff probs

Hey guys Merry Xmas and all that....I bought the new landy home and all was ok except that it started getting real noisey in the rear diff area and today i took it for a run and the landy went 200 yrds and started making an awful noise from the back and stopped moving foreward so i pulled the handbrake on and it kept rolling back so i choked it against the pavement and tried it in all gears hi-lo and it just made a terrible noise...I looked underneath and the shafts were turning into the back diff but the wheels were not moving..the front were on free wheel so i take it they shouldnt move anyway. is it the diff or the shaft how can i check is it a big repair or common. help guys....Thats what I get for Buying another one and being impatient...so im back to square one 895 quid down and feeling a bit of an arse really....please help xxx

if i understand you correctly then you probelly have a busted half shaft. which means diff out ,unless you have a direct line to the big landrover god. if you do then the shaft will have snapped at the wheel end which is about a 30min job.
if not you have to remove the diff to get the broken part out and that should take about a day to do.

oh, the usual cause is trying to get yer series 111 to wheel spin on hard dry tarmac.

how do I find out which part it is slob do i have to take all the bolts out round the diff and have a look or take the shaft out..any idea of cost and were do i get the stuff..craddocks or paddocks i take it...before this went would it have made a terrible noise on normal running like a serious drone or grone.....

take yer drive flange off and pull the shaft out, you'll see if it broken, if its not try the other one. can't say i've heard one groan before breaking but i suspose if there was two jagged edges they could offer some sort of drive along with a grinding noise.
seeing as how in most cases the thing breaks at the centre then you need to take the diff out any way, you may aswell whip it out and find out what parts you need to replace, generally if its just a broken shaft then it will be the shaft and a couple of gaskets. i use paddocks cos they was the first ones i heard of and i ain't had a problem with them as to cost, just check on their site.

so do i remove the six bolts or so around the rear wheel hub or at the diff end and i can see from there if the shaft is broken and if they are both ok does that only leave the diff..they look expensive

Remove six bolts in drive plate. You will see drive plate is splined. I think there is a lock nut to remove too - but if you leave this on you should be able to withdraw half shaft.

Having carried out some stress analysis on a Landy axle at University too long ago, I can say that the shafts are definately undersize for the rated power of the engines - a throwback to the axles being derived from earlier series 1 versions having smaller engine sizes. I digress.

Modes of failure are:

- torsional failure (over stressed). Looks like its unwrapped in a spiral fashion.
- fatigue failure -snaps like a carrot. Brittle fracture. Usually occurs near splines as these act as stress raisers.
- above failures can occurr at either end.

If failure is at wheel end - you have direct line to God and you simply exchange broken unit for complete one.

If failure is at diff end - then you will probably need to remove diff. BUT - I do remember helping my dad (when I was very young) deal with a half shaft failure and vaguely remember poking short bit of busted shaft in diff with some rod from the other side of the vehicle. This does mean taking out other half shaft.

I must say, taking out the diff is not very traumatic, but does mean removing prop shaft (don't forget to mark coupling flanges at eact end so you can put it back in right place). Don't be tempted to re-use nuts and bolts - fit new. However, if you have managed to break half shaft in Sailsbury axle - taking diff out is more traumatic....

The Haynes Manual is cheap and has some good illustrations in.

There is a chap with website who has scanned in complete workshop manuals into /pdf. I have some sections here I can send.

Some people carry spare half shafts just in case ....

Good luck.

I dont have to jack up the landy to do this do i...if I have to get to the diff end i just take al those nuts off and the break will be easy to see if its there...i assume i should check both wheel ends before touching the diff end.....xxxx

Eyup Roger old bean.
Go here www.seriesrover.com and theres a piece in "series tech" under repair and maintenance I think regarding broken halfshafts.

Regards WP.

Hey guys I have been out there today(sad i know but the wifes workin)and I have been messin with the red and yellow knobs and locking the free wheel hubs is there a position that the said knobs only drive the rear wheels and thats when i get the clunking grinding noise and no movement(the half shaft i presume) and in other positions the landy seems to move is that because the front wheels are engaged and only pulling it. i also found that there is a position when i put it in gear and nothing happens..but there is still summit wrong it makes a racket. but why wont the handbrake hold does that work off the prop or gearbox..I think i need to know more about the basic use of the red and yellow knobs please...i thought i had it sussed you push the red knob foreward and leave the yellow alone..I dont know what the yellow one does really....sorry to be a pain guys...will it drive with just the front wheels to get it to the garage or should i try and get the shaft sorted first i take it i dont want to move it with a bit of shaft rolling around but when it was towed yesterday it made noises coming from the back area presumably the broken shaft or is it the gearbox too...im getting all confused.....Help...xxxx

Rog' chap, you are a bloke in need of a Haynes manual. Whatever vehicle or bike I've owned across the years, it's always the first thing I buy. With all those handy little piccys you get a good idea of what you're likely to face when you open something or take something off or even just what bit it is that you're looking for.

Does sound like when you mess with the gears that you're dragging a bust half shaft along with front wheel drive.

For what the levers do I still think the easiest description to follow was Sheddy's post in: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f16/series-iii-4hi-low-2-hi-shifting-27107.html

Hope that helps, a bit?

Best,
Marcus

Well guys I took the half shafts out and they seemed fine to me so I decided to take the diff out and have a look after undoing the prop shaft and all the nuts round the diff(I should have drained it first dhu) it came away ok and in the oil were chunks of metal and all sorts of metal bits...so I changed it with the other one I have put it all back together and would you believe it sounds and drives like a new motor its the ballox and i now know how to do a rear diff....but were do i get another diff to put into the other Landy does this one get recond or chucked and at what price.....any ideas.....Thanks for your solid input guys you never let me down......speak soon...xxxx

depends on the amount of damage but going by what you say i think i'd bin it and log on to www.ebay.whereeveryouare, glad y'awl got it sorted

Its like a different Landy slob....the diff was in a state....your link led no where please try again..I think i found one in craddock for 80 quid recon unit but its some bit of kit and heavy..xxxx

just check ebay for one..i know that on ebay.fr there are three axles going for 50euros but i don,'t suspose thats much good to you. failing that 80squid don't sound to bad. the last diff i got cost just over 2 grand

oh well 80 bucks dont seem to bad then cheers mate xxxx

Well guys got the new diff back and will fit it over the weekend and Franky can go for an MOT and judging by some of the mingers on Ebay he should do ok with a spit and polish...he says...xxxx

I'd be inclined to try and buy a complete rear axle. You can get these quite cheap. That way, you get a spare diff AND spare half shafts, immersed in oil and wrapped in a metal casing. If you area really lucky, it will also come with spare back plates, drums and slave brake cylinders.

There were loads of axles around not so long ago when the Series 3s got demobbed from the MOD - many of which were broken up.

mm! i think i'd buy a complete landrover that way you get all the spares you want and its all packaged in a nice easy to move vehicle..well untill you start taking bits off.

That's my dad's approach. Except, he got overtaken by newer models. So, whislt he has a yard full of S1 and S2a donors vehicles, the one that goes is a series 3.