All very well saying buy another, that's what I did and, without waiting for ages, had to fork out £70 each and a bit more for delivery got one good one and one very noisy worn one. If someone has a decent RR/disc one I'd be happy with £50...However, I do like rebuilding stuff!

I'm not sure whether the free play is due to wear or due to poor servicing by the bloke I bought em off, he mentioned replacing bearings so they might not be set correctly.

I wasn't going to do anything with the pinion just the two bearing caps...sounds like I might be wasting my time though...Is it possible to check pinion setup without totally dismantling?

The diff really isn't too bad, nice and quiet, just more backlash than I'd like....best left alone?

PS: Thanks both for advice!

yes , diff isnt a complicated thing preload is easy to check as is height of pinion with round bar and vernier

divie said:

My real world MPG for 2.25 diesel is 28/29 This can go down to 26 in heavy traffic/ cold winter running but never any less. I sometimes run 50% biodiesel and save around £1.50 a gallon.
Rangie 3.54 diffs forget em unless you are running a petrol or tdi My diesel lost driveability when i tried them constantly running in 3rd gear around town and only got 30 mpg on a long run. Made a profit selling them though. Yes you can change diffs easy in your own garage try swapping the rear only and running it for a while. Just avoid four wheel drive cos you will break the gearbox if you try.

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Sorry to ask a stupid question but why would it break the box in 4wd?? And what would be the fuel compsuption after the mod? Many thanks thinking of this swap myself

I get about 19 to 25 out of my 2.25D with an overdrive. I never expected anything more than that. The technology is very old and the gearbox is also ancient.

I do think about the diff change and a 300tdi transplant, but at that point I may as well sell up and buy a Defender

fat lad said:

Sorry to ask a stupid question but why would it break the box in 4wd?? And what would be the fuel compsuption after the mod? Many thanks thinking of this swap myself

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If the front wheels are going at 30mph and the back wheels are trying to go at 39mph and the centre diff is locked somethings gonna give....

I just did my first tank-full brim-to-brim mileage calculation after fitting new carb, engine and cam altogether and its come out at 20mpg...now factor in about 1l lost due to ****ing around with carb. 2.5 hours sat in the sodding permanent road works a mile away, the fact that about a third of the miles were done on the choke and I've been tearing the arse off it checking the carb set up I'd say that was pretty good! Hopefully when I go over to Germany at Christmas it will be even better!

dominicbeesley said:

If the front wheels are going at 30mph and the back wheels are trying to go at 39mph and the centre diff is locked somethings gonna give....

I just did my first tank-full brim-to-brim mileage calculation after fitting new carb, engine and cam altogether and its come out at 20mpg...now factor in about 1l lost due to ****ing around with carb. 2.5 hours sat in the sodding permanent road works a mile away, the fact that about a third of the miles were done on the choke and I've been tearing the arse off it checking the carb set up I'd say that was pretty good! Hopefully when I go over to Germany at Christmas it will be even better!

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I see but if both diffs are changed for the same ratio all will be ok? And are the ones I would need be 3.54 10 splines? Cheers jonny

fat lad said:

I see but if both diffs are changed for the same ratio all will be ok? And are the ones I would need be 3.54 10 splines? Cheers jonny

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yes ,and yes but not all 3.54 diffs have oil filler in diff housing and not all series have oil filler plug in rear case ,early 10 spline diffs did have but are quite rare now so for rear you may need to fit oil filler in rear case while diffs out,fronts allways have filler in front of case ,defender disco or rrc are all the same 10 spline diffs