Rear E-Diff pinion bearing failure

[Odysseyman]

Been lurking here for quite a long time but now have an issue I really need advice on.
MY 2016 D4 SDV6 HSE with an e-diff, with 170000km on the clock. Just before heading away for our annual trip to FNQ I notice a drip of oil on the floor under my rear diff. Took it into my Indy and had the pinion seal replaced. So far, so good.

Have now travelled just under 5000km to FNQ (near Cairns) to find now that the rear diff pinion bearing is stuffed. For maybe the last few hundred (maybe less) could hear a high pitched hum which has quite quickly turned into a wail. This diagnosis of the pinion bearing was confirmed by the local and very helpful Indy in Cairns.

So this prompts a few questions, with comments hopefully from some of you knowledgeable and experienced guys on this forum.

Is it possible that something in/during the replacement of the seal could cause the bearing to fail?
Notwithstanding, it seems that my options are pretty limited.

1. Do I have the diff rebuilt? It seems a kit is available from Britparts (through their Australian distributors Rovacraft) but I’m waiting on confirmation from Britparts that the kit will indeed suit the diff in my car using my VIN. Then I have to trust that the local Indy will put it together properly…

2. I can get from interstate a second hand diff with 120000km on it but no other info for around $3250.

3. Land Rover can supply (from UK) a new diff at a cost of around $8400 plus fitting, oil etc.

4. Land Rover can supply a remanufactured diff at a cost of around $4600 plus fitting, oil etc.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome. I am leaning towards the remanufactured unit but am interested in what others think and any other advice you may have.

thanks in anticipation.

David

[loanrangie]

I'd say the bearing was on its way out before the seal started leaking unless they left out a sleeve or something when re-fiiting the uni flange.
Have you looked at removing your diff and having it rebuilt, would be the cheapest option.

[Odysseyman]

Yes but it seems there isn’t a kit for this particular diff. I’m just waiting for confirmation from Britparts as to whether the kit they advertise is suitable.
Then again, I think I’d feel more confident having a remanufactured one from JLR with a warranty. As I’m miles from home any warranty on a rebuild would be a waste of time I think.

[twr7cx]

Is option 4 really only $460? If so this seems like the logical choice...

I reckon the bearing was on the way out and caused the seals failure.

[Odysseyman]

Sorry, have edited my post, option 4 is $4600 not 460. Just missed that typo on my iPad. That price doesn’t include fitting, around another $1000.

I’ve pretty much made up my mind to take this option.

Just out of interest, how would the bearing failing affect the seal do you think? There was no sign/sound of wear of failure when the seal was done as far as I know and the AMV guys didn’t note anything.

cheers

[loanrangie]

Sorry, have edited my post, option 4 is $4600 not 460. Just missed that typo on my iPad. That price doesn’t include fitting, around another $1000.

I’ve pretty much made up my mind to take this option.

Just out of interest, how would the bearing failing affect the seal do you think? There was no sign/sound of wear of failure when the seal was done as far as I know and the AMV guys didn’t note anything.

cheers

Pinion flops around wearing out the seal.

[Eric SDV6SE]

If it were mine, I'd be looking at the JLR refurbished one. Im sure they can guarantee that they used oem parts. Prices seem pretty good.

Your indy should have checked for excessive play in the uni shaft where it enters the diff and also should have seen dark and smelly out with a silver sheen on it when they did the seal and refreshed the oil.

[Discodicky]

Been lurking here for quite a long time but now have an issue I really need advice on.
MY 2016 D4 SDV6 HSE with an e-diff, with 170000km on the clock. Just before heading away for our annual trip to FNQ I notice a drip of oil on the floor under my rear diff. Took it into my Indy and had the pinion seal replaced. So far, so good.

Have now travelled just under 5000km to FNQ (near Cairns) to find now that the rear diff pinion bearing is stuffed. For maybe the last few hundred (maybe less) could hear a high pitched hum which has quite quickly turned into a wail. This diagnosis of the pinion bearing was confirmed by the local and very helpful Indy in Cairns.

So this prompts a few questions, with comments hopefully from some of you knowledgeable and experienced guys on this forum.

Is it possible that something in/during the replacement of the seal could cause the bearing to fail?
Notwithstanding, it seems that my options are pretty limited.

1. Do I have the diff rebuilt? It seems a kit is available from Britparts (through their Australian distributors Rovacraft) but I’m waiting on confirmation from Britparts that the kit will indeed suit the diff in my car using my VIN. Then I have to trust that the local Indy will put it together properly…






2. I can get from interstate a second hand diff with 120000km on it but no other info for around $3250.

3. Land Rover can supply (from UK) a new diff at a cost of around $8400 plus fitting, oil etc.

4. Land Rover can supply a remanufactured diff at a cost of around $4600 plus fitting, oil etc.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome. I am leaning towards the remanufactured unit but am interested in what others think and any other advice you may have.

thanks in anticipation.

David

It is most unusual to have a diff pinion bearing fail at such low klms.
Most modern diffs use a 'crushable spacer" to set the pinion bearing preload.

With this in mind, when replacing the diff pinion flange oil seal it is imperative to mark the position of the nut in relation to the pinion drive flange, and when tightening the nut after replacing the pinion flange oil seal, you simply tighten it to line up with your mark, thus not disturbing the crushable spacer "setting".

If you overtighten the nut then you can/will alter the pinion bearing preload which will cause the pinion bearings to fail.

If you "under tighten" the nut then you will also cause bearing failure but usually not quite so quickly however there will most likely be a noticeable bearing whine because there is insufficient pre-load on the bearings.

My bet is that the nut has possibly been over tightened.

[Davetd5]

It is most unusual to have a diff pinion bearing fail at such low klms.
Most modern diffs use a 'crushable spacer" to set the pinion bearing preload.

With this in mind, when replacing the diff pinion flange oil seal it is imperative to mark the position of the nut in relation to the pinion drive flange, and when tightening the nut after replacing the pinion flange oil seal, you simply tighten it to line up with your mark, thus not disturbing the crushable spacer "setting".

If you overtighten the nut then you can/will alter the pinion bearing preload which will cause the pinion bearings to fail.

If you "under tighten" the nut then you will also cause bearing failure but usually not quite so quickly however there will most likely be a noticeable bearing whine because there is insufficient pre-load on the bearings.

My bet is that the nut has possibly been over tightened.

Ideally, when replacing the pinion seal the diff should be disassembled and the crush washer replaced and the bearing preload reset. We've all just removed the pinion flange and replaced the seal only, but many years ago when I was a Ford tech they stopped allowing us to replace just the pinion seal as they had too many diffs come back noisy from collapsed pinion bearings or gear whine from gears out of mesh adjustment. They would send us a whole refurbished diff in a crate rather than allow us to replace the pinion seal only and muck up the diff.

[Odysseyman]

Thanks guys for those replies, I agree with what you are saying and suspect that the nut has not been marked and has been overtightened.

My plan is to the buy the remanufactured diff and keep the old one for further investigation.
I expect there should be some markings which will show whether or not the nut has been tightened or not to the correct position. If not, I think I should have a fairly good argument for some compensation.

Thanks again for the advice and support.

Only downside is that I’m stuck here near Mareeba for the next month or so and can’t drive far at all. It could be worse I guess - I could be at home in the cold in Melbourne. Lucky we don’t have any time constraints until mid September.