Metal Shards in my Rear Diff and Discoloured Tranfer Case Oil

[mrapocalypse]

Just had the 120K service done on the D2 V8 and they found some small metal shards in the rear diff. They looked like tiny (3-5mm) pieces of metal - about the thickness of peanut shell, very soft and extremely thin. The boys at MR Didn't see it as an immediate emergency but was definitely cause for concern -naturally. Just wondering what would cause small soft metal shards... not gears or bearings?
Also had discoloured TC oil, what does THAT mean???

Cheers

Ian

[isuzurover]

Sounds like the case hardening flaking off the R&P gears.

Were they bright silver?

Either that or the thrust washers behind the spider gears.

[mrapocalypse]

No not bright silver as far as I could tell but they had lived in the sludge on the drain plug magnet for some time. Quite brittle!

[Urban Panzer]

When you say TC had discoloured oil ? what colour was it ?

The transfer box and rear diff always seem to "work harder" on the oil and its often a well "used" colour. More so when bigger tyres etc are fitted. One of the reasons I fitted the transfer case "cooling sump" with a larger oil capacity.

Its when its milky and contains water you have to worry more.

[jwb]

I had metal in my rear diff at a service and soon thereafter started getting very noisy. Sounded like marbles rattling in a jar! Had the diff center replaced with a good used one and all good. Happened at around 130k and have done a reasonable amount of hard off road work, service place thought it not unusual.

[mrapocalypse]

The TC oil was just off colour but not contaminated! So far diff is ver quiet and almost no backlash etc..

I think it's a fairly legitimate excuse to fit a Locker don't you?

[Urban Panzer]

The TC oil was just off colour but not contaminated! So far diff is ver quiet and almost no backlash etc..

I think it's a fairly legitimate excuse to fit a Locker don't you?

tbh, "if" it starts to get noisy and does need replacing, I would not call it an "excuse" I would call it preventitive maintanence. :D

I feel much more "confident" knowing the ARB is back there, not so much as to where or how much further it will get me, but just as much if not more of how much stronger it is than the "weak" factory diffs.

Just need an excuse to do the front now.......:angel:

[Pinelli]

An old thread I know but I found the same thing today changing the diff oil, but in the front diff only. Thought this was odd given that most of the work happens at the rear. Rear diff was pretty much clean of shards, just a touch of gunk around it. Front diff plug is as in picture below. I've only had the Disco about 6 months, so not really sure of history - a 2000 with 165,000 on the clock.

Is this something to worry about?
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/06/73.jpg

[jiri_j]

An old thread I know but I found the same thing today changing the diff oil, but in the front diff only. Thought this was odd given that most of the work happens at the rear. Rear diff was pretty much clean of shards, just a touch of gunk around it. Front diff plug is as in picture below. I've only had the Disco about 6 months, so not really sure of history - a 2000 with 165,000 on the clock.

Is this something to worry about?


When I changed axle oil (155t km on the clock) it looked very much similar. After 15t km I drained the oil to check it and it was perfectly clear. Seems that you are the first one who bothered to change axle oil on your truck...

[gusthedog]

In regards to the colour of the transfer case oil I would think that a bit of discoloration is normal if you are using the car for what it is intended.

As an interesting note, Ive recently completed 45,000kms around Australia and changed my transfer oil every service (at 10k) as it was starting to become discoloured. I asked my mechanic about it and he said that discolouration is normal if the vehicle is being used (eg: towing or in 4wd a bit). I was towing a 1 tonne camper trailer so wanted to be sure that all the oils were good for remote work.

[Pinelli]

When I changed axle oil (155t km on the clock) it looked very much similar. After 15t km I drained the oil to check it and it was perfectly clear. Seems that you are the first one who bothered to change axle oil on your truck...

Cheers mate. According to the manual it's only meant to happen every 160k, but I might give itanother 20k and do it again to check. Hopefully comes out clear as well:)

[LRT]

Hi Pinelli,

We found a similar problem with our 1999 Discovery II, which we bought second hand with 200,000 odd kms on the clock. We had a lot more sludge, which bound the metal chips. See the attached picture. The axle housing required extensive flushing with hydraulic oil to remove the sludge and metal.

The Discovery II is a permanent four-wheel drive. Therefore, the rear diff isn't necessarily doing any more work than the front diff. When a wheel spins without center diff lock engaged, all the drive is sent to that wheel irrespective of whether it is a front or rear wheel. However, the front axle can wear more rapidly than the rear axle due to the added mechanical stress of steering, especially if the front tyres are uneven or too aggressive for the terrain.

It seems that the previous owner may have used, for an extended period, different brand tyres with different tread and wear patterns on the front, or left a spare tyre on the front for far too long, or used very aggressive off-road tyres on the steer for high mileage driving on bitumen.

To reduce the wear and tear on the front axle, we now run new matching tyres on the front with at least one solid centre rib to give a faster and less stressful steering response.

LRT

[scarry]

After 20k,my rear diff plug was as per the pics,front was fine.I took a sample of the rear oil & the stuff off the plug to MR & they said not to worry about it.I will be changing it again shortly after 10k,& will be interesting to see what it is like.
The extended drainage intervals in the D2 manual are for synthetic fluid.Most service mechanics use mineral oil as it is cheaper,but has to be changed more often.

[fvhdvh]

I know this info is for Disco 2 but does anyone know if the disco 3's have an issue with the Diff - We have a jan 05 build del May 5 - only done 50,000km - issue started in Jan 11 - Told it was a Left front wheel bearing - replaced only to find out still grinding noise - told front diff - LR replaced however drove car home - noise and vibration worse than ever - went back and now told rear diff - how can this be - does anyone know or can help. Landrover do not want to know or help as car is out of warranty.:mad:

Note: Car has NEVER been off road or through water.

Any suggestions would be grateful.:)

[joel0407]

This puts my mind a rest a little. I was a bit freaked out when I undid my Transfer and rear diff yesterday.

I'm just working out what I'm going to flush it with before I fill with redline shock proof.

Happy Days.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I'd wish you'd stop digging these up Joel--

I'm gunna have to do mine now.
I used some spectacular Castrol supercar diff oil in the green one and got all of two weeks out of it till the crash,,:(:mad:

so this time its a 4litre container "off the shelf":D

oh,, brass plugs?
yes? no?

[joel0407]

I'd wish you'd stop digging these up Joel--

oh,, brass plugs?
yes? no?

No worries. Anytime.

I'm sticking with the plastic ones. I haven't priced new ones yet but I recon they'd be cheap and I haven't heard of them failing. Brass are pretty expensive considering.

Happy Days.

[schuy1]

Brass. All us monkeys have them :)

[Blknight.aus]

the filings on the plug in the picture are normal.

complete shards are not.

to check wipe the thing on a double stack of matt A4 paper, it should smear about like grinding paste. It forms "spires" from the magnetic properties of the plug.

I personally like to fit a magnetic plug to both fill and drains because the drain will catch more and the fill will give you an indication every time you open it up.

If you see flakes that are sharp, hard but brittle its time to start investing in an overhaul on the diff as thats hardfacing coming off.