Nodge68
Well-Known Member
As requested. Here's some pictures of the diff coming out.
The instructions suggest this rear exhaust hanger is removed, but the fact that the bolts are just rusted blobs, made that more of a challenge, than simply pulling the hangers off the hooks
Once the hangers are removed, the exhaust was lowered and supported with blocks of wood.
The propshaft flange bolts are E10 torx, and weren't very tight. The upper bolts are harder to get at without turning the propshaft, but aren't that difficult to undo. There are 3 flat washers, each bridging between two bolts.
Note that I crudely marked the flange, so I could fit it back in the same place.
This shot shows the front mount, which straddles between two 18mm headed bolts each side of the subframe. The front of the diff is secured to the mount, with 4 10mm headed bolts, one of which was pretty chewed up.
Also you'll notice that everything under here is coated in a film of oil.
The LHS bolt is removed completely, the RHS bolt is released, just enough so the front mount can now be swung down.
The diff will now hang down, which allows the propshaft flange to be removed. Mine took a couple of taps with a cold chisel and hammer for it to pop off.
After I got the propshaft flange off, I found a hole in the Haldex flange, were the propshaft can be tapped off from behind.
The electrical connector needs removing too, for which I used a small screw driver in the hole, to release the catch.
At this point, I supported the front with wooden blocks under the Haldex, and placed a trolley jack under the lowest part at the rear of the diff.
The rear diff mounts are next, which are accessed from the rear, just above the lowered exhaust box.
The jack was lowered a few inches, so I could get to the diff breathers, there are two, which simply pulled off.
Next I put some straps around the driveshafts and over the subframe, so to take the weight, once the shafts were pulled from the diff. The RHS took almost no effort to remove, simply popping out with a just a twist from a large screwdriver.
The LHS needed the lower suspension links to be removed from the hub carrier. The LHS driveshaft really didn't want to come out, requiring many hits with my cold chisel and a club hammer to free it.
At this point, I started to get a clue as to the potential cause of the diff seizure. I'd put an oil drain pan under the diff before pulling the driveshafts, although it wasn't needed, as no oil came out.
Lower suspension links unbolted, and blocked out to allow space for the driveshafts to be pulled.
At this point, the diff can be lowered. I used the jack as a trolley, and withdraw the diff from under the LH rear wheel.
It's out, and quite obviously had no oil in it, which would explain the catastrophic failure.
I put plastic bags over the driveshaft joints for protection, while the diff is out.
The whole assembly stood in the oil drainer, as it was dripping a tiny amount of oil from the breathers, but it looks like there isn't actually much more than a few drops of oil in it.
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