Diff rebuild in defender

[landoman]

The diff in my defender has been giving of a loud clunk when ever gears are changed or on acceleration
Took it to the dealers and according to landrover there is no stock of diffs so it was sent out for a rebuild ....All under warranty

The rebuilt diff was reinstallled but the clunk is still there ....so it's going back to the diff builder to see
what the problem is .......

Is it normal to have problems with a rebuilt diff ? The dealer mechanic who is very knowledgeable
feels the problem is in the diff .......that's why I'm surprised the rebuilder did not get the problem the first time ?

[1nando]

It's probably your rear drive flanges and or axles! I had 3 diffs until a genius thought to look at the flanges after I was told by someone on this site what I am telling you now...

[landoman]

It's probably your rear drive flanges and or axles! I had 3 diffs until a genius thought to look at the flanges after I was told by someone on this site what I am telling you now...
What are the flanges ? ....sorry not very technical ......could be the axels I guess
.........I'm sure they will find the issue .....

[Andy130]

Flanges are at the wheel ends of the axles - they are the 'driven ends' that rotate the wheels as the axles turn. When they wear they can create knocking noise as a gap is created between the axle spline and the drive flange- the knock is the axle hitting the drive flange as the slack is taken up.

[landoman]

Flanges are at the wheel ends of the axles - they are the 'driven ends' that rotate the wheels as the axles turn. When they wear they can create knocking noise as a gap is created between the axle spline and the drive flange- the knock is the axle hitting the drive flange as the slack is taken up.
Thanks for that .....definitely sounds like a knocking noise ......so hopefully they will find it

[1nando]

If it's not the flanges and or axles it could be the diff flange being loose or possibly your a frame ball joint. I'd have my money on the flanges and axles

[PAT303]

Do kids starting out get taught how to fix vehicles at dealerships or is it all ''the computer said there's no problem so there isn't one'' mentality?.How the **** can we still have dealers rebuilding diff's without noticing the axle flanges are **** when they remove the ****ing things to do it?. Pat

[Marty90]

You would think that when rebuilding a diff you would automatically, without thinking,inspect the axles/flanges! It would be second nature .

[Bearman]

If it's not the flanges and or axles it could be the diff flange being loose or possibly your a frame ball joint. I'd have my money on the flanges and axles

My money is on the A frame ball joint.

[PAT303]

I just did my TDCi's at 160,000km,the flanges straight after I bought it. Pat

[landoman]

Thanks for that .....definitely sounds like a knocking noise ......so hopefully they will find it


Car has gone back to the diff builder ....the dealer service salesman called me and says the problem
is in the sun gears ?

looked that up and they are on the other end of the axels from the flanges ....and inside the diff ?? .....since they rebuilt the diff I don't understand why they would not have found that if it was a problem

anyway hopefully they have have found the source of the knocking and fix it this time ......

[Vern]

Hmmmmmm, lets wait and see!

[landoman]

Hmmmmmm, lets wait and see!

So I got My car back ....finally ......and looks like the diff was rebuilt .....but after it came back from the diff builders it still had knocking and required something else to be done ......not exactly sure as one service sales man said it was the sun gears and another said it was the flanges and "they were nipped up ".........not sure what that means .........I don't have much confidence in either of these salesmen as they are not technical and their job is to sell and up sell service ,add ons and parts and labour ........I did not get to speak to the technician but will next time I'm in .........either way they seem to have found the problem and fixed it
.......I did note on the invoice ( warranty work so no charge to me ) that two stub axels were replaced .....not sure how these relate to the diff and the flanges but could have been the issue
anyway I'm happy it's fixed .......hope it doesn't come back .

[Vern]

Well you can't "nip up" the drive flanges! By the sounds of it they have replaced the axles and flanges and this was the problem all along.
Be interested to hear what the "technician" has to say.

[Bearman]

So I got My car back ....finally ......and looks like the diff was rebuilt .....but after it came back from the diff builders it still had knocking and required something else to be done ......not exactly sure as one service sales man said it was the sun gears and another said it was the flanges and "they were nipped up ".........not sure what that means .........I don't have much confidence in either of these salesmen as they are not technical and their job is to sell and up sell service ,add ons and parts and labour ........I did not get to speak to the technician but will next time I'm in .........either way they seem to have found the problem and fixed it
.......I did note on the invoice ( warranty work so no charge to me ) that two stub axels were replaced .....not sure how these relate to the diff and the flanges but could have been the issue
anyway I'm happy it's fixed .......hope it doesn't come back .

You're right, none of that makes any sense. Replacing 2 stub axles won't make any difference to the clunking problem you described. I reckon they just stuffed up on the rebuild and are telling you porkies!!!

[DazzaTD5]

Do kids starting out get taught how to fix vehicles at dealerships or is it all ''the computer said there's no problem so there isn't one'' mentality?.How the **** can we still have dealers rebuilding diff's without noticing the axle flanges are **** when they remove the ****ing things to do it?. Pat

Pat..... its because, monkey not see, so monkey not do, monkey not told, so monkey dont do, monkey really doesnt know Land Rovers (personal option, its my guess)
Seriously though, you may well find most dealers pay pretty ****, turn over a lot of staff and know about zero when it comes to Land Rovers (personal opinion).

The funny part was the mention of the axles on the paperwork, so they rebuilt the diff, it was still clunky so they changed the axles and low and behold it fixed the clunk, AND they actually put that on the paperwork [tonguewink][tonguewink][tonguewink]

Regards
Daz

[DazzaTD5]

Well you can't "nip up" the drive flanges! By the sounds of it they have replaced the axles and flanges and this was the problem all along.
Be interested to hear what the "technician" has to say.

Yep... that would be right

Regards
Daz