Thread: Front Diff problems..Water?

Hi All
An increasing whine my D2a developed disappeared when the front d. shaft was out for a rebuild last week. Shaft back--whine back, so I drained the front diff and the results were ugly. BIG blob of black sludge on the mag. plug and oil a darkish milk chocolate colour. Both diffs changed 10000ks ago so drained a bit from the rear to compare--was clear & like new. Like comparing beer with coffee. I'm thinking water. Did get involved in a bit of "wading" a few months back. Axle breather looks ok from the open end. Whine still there after refilling the diff so i think the damage has been done.
What are any common faults/causes of water in the D2 front diff?
Cheers Discolaw

Originally Posted by wardy1

D2 diffs are ****! This from a D2 owner.
If you have breathers, where do they breath from? Do you have filters on them to stop water going down them? How deep was the 'water issue' you mentioned?
I ended up just installing lockers front and rear so I could pretty much forget the 'Rover Blues' when it comes to diffs.

Share your pain. Front breather is up on the firewall near the pipes from the abs. Factory installed on D2a. No filter. Water was about headlight high but strong current (all another story). Diff is beyond my DIY garage level mechanics so I'll need to get it checked to find out what the issues & $s are. Good excuse for lockers or truetrac but i don't think they like water either so like to find out any known entry points/faults.
Discolaw