Suspected broken front diff - help needed to confirm diagnosis

I was pulling out up a slight gradient onto a roundabout on Thursday when there was a slight clunk followed by a gentle grinding noise. My Defender 90 went no further. I engaged the diff lock and managed to pull over, and after satisfying myself that there was no longer any drive to one of the axles, I managed to limp home.

I've now had an initial look at the problem and have found that the fault is in the front axle. With both front wheels on the ground, the prop shaft turns freely. I then jacked each front wheel off the ground in turn and turned the prop shaft again - neither front wheel turned. If it were a half-shaft or drive member that had broken, I have expected one of the wheels to turn when I turned the prop shaft, which leads me to the conclusion that the diff has broken.

I'd be grateful if someone could confirm this initial diagnosis. I was surprised that the problem occurred without any warning - no new noises etc. - and that it happened with so little drama. I'd have thought a breaking diff would have sounded like the world coming to an end!

Well, that's a fine hello.:welcome2:

It could simply be a broken shaft or drive member as the drive will go the path of least resistance the broken part will spin with no load.

jai_landrover said:

it could simply be a broken shaft or drive member as the drive will go the path of least resistance the broken part will spin with no load.

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+1 spin wheels and feel for any notchyness or grating

Good point. As it happens, I was advised that the drive members were looking very tired when I had one of the wheelbearings replaced about 18 months ago. Are these relatively easy to get at to inspect/replace?

Pull off both hub caps rubber ones put in 1st with difflock unlocked ask someone else to watch for spinning shaft in drive member usually they go esp td5's where there is no lube to them. if nothing turns then yea its an axle strip job and you can feel for notchy ness

If one has gone get both and replace with new drive members. not expensive and usually easy unless rusted again only really an issue with td5's

Thanks guys. I popped the rubber caps off and sure enough, one of the half shafts is turning. I'll replace both drive members as you suggest. Is there a likelihood that the splines on the shafts will be knackered too?

~If you have wheels where the hub can be got at i.e std landy steel wheels then yes just a casse of:

Removing rubber hub cover,

Undoing a circlip and removing it and any spacer washers,

Undoing the 5 drive member bolts that hold the drive member to the hub,

Uusing a copper mallet tapping the drive member to release any hold (Can be harder on TD5 if they have rusted)

Clean face of the hub and make sure no contaminants go into the wheel bearing,

Refit with either RTV silicone sealant or drive member gaskets with new drive member,

refit as reverse but we wary that the shaft sticks through enough so that you can get the spacer washers and circlip back on usually there is a thread in the end of the shaft so you can hold it out while assembling

J

Inspect the shafts but they are usually ok going down that road its a pair of CV's and way more involved inc removing calipers hubs etc

Watch the first part of the video,

LandroverWorkshopDVD.com How to change a land rover range rover wheelbearing brake disc hub caliper - YouTube

Can be done with the wheels on If you have steel wheels and not alloys as the video says,

This is really helpful - thank you all for your help and advice.

Sassenach said:

This is really helpful - thank you all for your help and advice.

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Except me..!

If you're replacing the members may I suggest you go for HD ones? They're not a lot more expensive, look good and will last forever!

PS: There's an 'introducing yourself' section if you haven't noticed already!

Forget HD ones Lr ones are perfectly ok HD ones have advantages but a few disadvantages also. Stick with LR they have probably lasted years and 100K miles or there abouts they'll do just fine.

Ow remember to put some grease/oil on your splines and may be worth doing so when youservice the motor just pop the caps off push in some grease and replace the caps. I do and I also silicone on my hub caps because they tend to get knocked off offroading and silicone keeps them on for longer