Diff went bang

Spitfirejim · Jan 19, 2018

Disaster today. Driving along at about 50mph in TD4 and hit deep pothole and BANG from the back. Stopped and looked underneath and diff had split in half and large piece missing . Propshaft is off at the moment and diff was not making any noises previous. Any one heard of this be before. What to do now. Few used ones on eBay. Are the models all same.

Nodge68 · Jan 19, 2018

The diff has only failed due to incorrect tyre maintenance or a failed VCU. Both tyres and VCU need investigation before a replacements diff is fitted.

Wimblowdriver · Jan 19, 2018

If it was on a public highway, get a photo of the pothole and vehicle damage. Get a claim in against the authority responsible for maintaining the highway.

Nodge68 · Jan 19, 2018

Wimblowdriver said:
If it was on a public highway, get a photo of the pothole and vehicle damage. Get a claim in against the authority responsible for maintaining the highway.

The local authority won't be responsible for this. It's probably failed on a potholed road because it's already severely weakened. It's normally the IRD that goes bang first, but diffs go bang too.

Spitfirejim · Jan 19, 2018

Only had td4 for 3 month . Tyres all same only done about 4k. When prop was on everything was ok. No noises or tightness when reversing.

freelance · Jan 19, 2018

When and why was prop removed?

Spitfirejim · Jan 19, 2018

Only had td4 for 3 months
Tyres all same make and size and done around 4k. Propshaft off at the moment but when on no usal signs of trouble.

Spitfirejim · Jan 19, 2018

I removed prop 3 weeks or so ago to change prop bearings and not had time to refit .

kernowsvenski · Jan 19, 2018

Seems odd it will fail so spectacularly after the prop is removed and loadings have consequently been significantly reduced. However,

Wimblowdriver said:
If it was on a public highway, get a photo of the pothole and vehicle damage. Get a claim in against the authority responsible for maintaining the highway.

You'd probably only get joy with that if the authority was aware of the defect and not repaired it within their stated target repair times, or, they hadn't inspected the road within their routine inspection timetable. It would need a good case to argue that a pot hole had done that kind of damage anyway I should think

Spitfirejim · Jan 19, 2018

The wife said when she drove it this morning it juddered for 5 seconds or so which she says felt like she was applying the hand brake.

teddywood1 · Jan 20, 2018

they are only cast and they can break quite easy if hit in the right place I would put in a claim

Hippo · Jan 20, 2018

Sorry to hear yer hippo has had trouble. Yer going to need a replacement rear diff and replacement vcu (assuming it fails the one wheel up test) as it's past it's best and starting to seize up. Yer will need new oil for the replacement rear diff. Yer may want to check the rear diff mounts are ok while yer at it. the centre front mount as a minimum. If it were mine I would want to check the condition of the IRD oil anorl. Perhaps before spending money on it in case the IRD is a bit too worn as well.

The juddering may have been due to a tooth come oft one of the cogs/gears inside the rear diff. I know it dun't seem much but yer kind of lucky it was the rear diff that went bang. It's more eggspensive/difficult to replace/fit the IRD (at the front of the props).

May I ask for some more pic's of it from the side (camera looking at it from the front edge of the rear wheels) so I can add it to me transmission fred to warn others of what can happen?

deangermouse · Jan 20, 2018

Pretty sure that the rear diff is the same on a 1.8 petrol but not the drive shafts. You just pop old ones out, then pop your td4 one in. Sure one of the wise men will confirm. Good luck

Nodge68 · Jan 20, 2018

Spitfirejim said:
Only had td4 for 3 months
Tyres all same make and size and done around 4k. Propshaft off at the moment but when on no usal signs of trouble.

The oil in the diff is a soup of metallic particles. This says that the diff was going to fail at any point. The reason the casing has split was due to the pinion and crown wheel didn't mesh correctly. You need to replace the VCU, make sure the new tyres are identical and do an oil change on the IRD. If the oil in IRD looks like metallic soup, then that needs replacing too.

Spitfirejim · Jan 20, 2018

Well here's the diff fully in half. Don't no the colour of the oil as it dumped it on the road. Found the recipe for the diff bushes and all 3 replaced with genuine parts 10month ago. Got second-hand diff from breakers today.

Spitfirejim · Jan 20, 2018

Props was not on when it happened so you woudent think it would be under stress.

Nodge68 · Jan 20, 2018

Spitfirejim said:
Props was not on when it happened so you woudent think it would be under stress.

Trust me, that diff has been overloaded for a while, which is why it's gone bang. The oil drips and staining around the diff are silver in colour and the teeth on the gears have had the case hardening ground off. The VCU needs replacing, and the IRD needs it's oil checking too. Diffs don't just go bang without it being caused by VCU stiffening or incorrect tyres, or both.

freelance · Jan 20, 2018

Distinct lack of oil, crown wheel and pinion not pretty, pothole was a coincidence

freelance · Jan 20, 2018

Housing cracked at the top for a while, it’s been chattering

teddywood1 · Jan 20, 2018

the diff for the 1800, L series, TD4 and V6 are all the same and that is from Land rover

Diff went bang

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