Whats happened ? Diff explode ?

if it can be diagnosed as the diff, ive spoke to a local parts man, he has diffs for £80 and is around tomorrow morning, says front and rear are the same ? are all the diesel diffs the same throughout the years or are there different types for a 2.5 diesel ?

how long would a diff swap take ? ,

Diff Swap is a few hours work....

There were two types (others will know better than me) 2 pin and 4 pin...not sure when the change over was or if the Diesel was different....

ok thanks, what i need to know, mines a 1996 dse, are all diesel ones the same, or if its a case of checking on mine what it is,checking the new one what it is

thats if its just the diff

did not really need this aggro

Saint.V8 said:

Diff Swap is a few hours work....

There were two types (others will know better than me) 2 pin and 4 pin...not sure when the change over was or if the Diesel was different....

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Any one will be fine, but the 4 pin front diff arrived with 4 wheel TC on the 99 4.6 Thor.

Don't forget to test the VCU.

WHATS THE BEST WAY TO TEST THE VCU ? and if it was faulty/not working- what would be happening ? symptoms

...i drove it home, 45 miles no problems it sounded smooth,quiet remined me how it used to be, another couple of squeeks/clunks seem to have gone too, it sounds healthy now, gear change feels smoother/when changing say 3rd-4th-5th, or when was in 5th then changing in to 4th and picking up the revs...sounds as it should be now

just no 4 wheel drive, you can feel it hasnt quite got the pick up power if in a slightly higher gear for the speed the revs dont pick up/accelerate to well you have to change down a gear to pick it up

so do you think it could just be the diffs gone ?

polsta said:

WHATS THE BEST WAY TO TEST THE VCU ? and if it was faulty/not working- what would be happening ? symptoms

...i drove it home, 45 miles no problems it sounded smooth,quiet remined me how it used to be, another couple of squeeks/clunks seem to have gone too, it sounds healthy now, gear change feels smoother/when changing say 3rd-4th-5th, or when was in 5th then changing in to 4th and picking up the revs...sounds as it should be now

just no 4 wheel drive, you can feel it hasnt quite got the pick up power if in a slightly higher gear for the speed the revs dont pick up/accelerate to well you have to change down a gear to pick it up

so do you think it could just be the diffs gone ?

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viscous coupling test video is on you tube

is that the jack up and turn wheeel method ? i was reading about it earlier in the search,-but some said it wasfine but the test wouldnt move ? and also saw a post that said another way was to test it was to put in full lock turn,and drive ? - if i did that way quick in a min as its raining, how should it feel if the vcu is at fault ?

I explained how to check vcu earlier.

Also the P38 doesn't have 5 gears only 4 and a final lock up.

Just jack one front wheel, with constant pressure it should slowly turn, it will need a lot of effort. If it's free it's likely the diff, prop or a half shaft is gone which is most often caused by a seized VCU. If a new diff is needed, it's imperative thet the VCU is checked before use or you will just blow another diff.

Had same problem on mine was rear diff when I took it off it fell to bits cost me £60 to fix easy job to do aswell

Datatek said:

Just jack one front wheel, with constant pressure it should slowly turn, it will need a lot of effort. If it's free it's likely the diff, prop or a half shaft is gone which is most often caused by a seized VCU. If a new diff is needed, it's imperative thet the VCU is checked before use or you will just blow another diff.

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so.... if the diff has gone and wheel is free like above....how do you then check the vcu ?

Or if rear diff is gone how would vcu be ?

Bizgsi said:

Had same problem on mine was rear diff when I took it off it fell to bits cost me £60 to fix easy job to do aswell

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So what was the vcu like ? Did you test it ?

When the prop is off to do the diff, put a bar on the prop flange on the transfer box and try turning it, gear in neutral and and brake off if doing it from the rear prop.

Datatek said:

When the prop is off to do the diff, put a bar on the prop flange on the transfer box and try turning it, gear in neutral and and brake off if doing it from the rear prop.

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ok, so what are we looking for when doing that ? ie whats good and whats bad ?

were looking tomorrow morning, he was supposed to do it today whilst i was at work but hes let me down, and im hoping i can go straight from there to get the needed parts

The flange should turn slowly with constant pressure, needs a lot of effort. If it doesn't turn the VCU has seized and that is the cause of your problem. If it does turn look for another cause. I check the VCU on every service.

thanks data i appriciate all the info and help

so....say if its just the rear diff has gone, everything else is ok....will the vcu front wheel jacked up test still be ok ? ,or if the front diff has gone what would happen when doing that test ?

just want to be 100% clear in it all , my mate said it may be the half shafts or something maybe not the diff, although i suspect now still as initialy, it is a diff, just hoping thats all it is, and want to get it 100% as winter is looming shes gotta be solid

polsta said:

thanks data i appriciate all the info and help

so....say if its just the rear diff has gone, everything else is ok....will the vcu front wheel jacked up test still be ok ? ,or if the front diff has gone what would happen when doing that test ?

just want to be 100% clear in it all , my mate said it may be the half shafts or something maybe not the diff, although i suspect now still as initialy, it is a diff, just hoping thats all it is, and want to get it 100% as winter is looming shes gotta be solid

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Think it is highly likely you have snapped a half shaft. If it's a front one you can't do the VCU test because the wheel will just spin. If it's a rear one you can do the VCU test but you would need to have the handbrake on.

thanks whammers, reason im asking the qs- is that my mate wasnt very familiar with the VCU and tests, hes an mot tester and a good general mechanic, not a land rover expert, so i just want to be armed up with as much info as possible and il have this thread open on my phone as were looking at it for refference

so if the half shaft went, does that mean the diff would still be ok ? , is it likley/unlikley both the diff AND half shaft would be done ? is it possible its only the half shaft and i presume thats easier/cheaper/quicker fix ?? (seen they are only £20 on ebay)

would the half shaft on its way out give the same sort of grumble/rumble when accelerating/revving past 3k which i thought was the diff

wammers said:

Think it is highly likely you have snapped a half shaft. If it's a front one you can't do the VCU test because the wheel will just spin. If it's a rear one you can do the VCU test but you would need to have the handbrake on.

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Sorry Tony, you can't test the VCU from the rear with the handbrake on, the prop will be locked before you get to the VCU.

If the front diff has gone, test the VCU from the front prop flange at the transfer box with either both rear wheels on the ground or the handbrake on, if its the rear diff gone test at the rear prop flange at the transfer box both front wheels on the ground hand brake off. Same apples for a front or rear halfshaft.