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Last night I was going through my pictures and videos from when I visited the LR Experience Center at Solihull two years ago, and I completely forgot that I noticed a clunking sound. I asked what it was and the instructor said it was the rear diff and that it is completely normal. That car, IIRC had 15k miles, all of which were off-road at the experience center.
I have this, too. I had my rear diff flushed, and my friend who did it also put in some Ford Motorcraft differential friction additive. It fixed the problem for about a month, but now I can occasionally feel/hear my rear diff clunk, but not as often as it was before the flush. I spoke with a friend of mine who has experience with tis problem, and he said that other than the clunking sound, there isn't anything to worry about, and he hasn't seen any differential failures caused by this on any D7 platform vehicle. I also spoke with another friend who is an engineer for JLR in the UK and he said not to worry about it. I'm going in to have the harness overlay for the keyless entry replaced next week, so I'll have the dealer flush the rear diff again, but after talking to several people with experience with the rear diff, I'm not that concerned about it anymore.
@CincyRovers How did you get the dealer to agree to do the overlay harness for the keyless entry?
I've taken mine in and they replaced the battery in the key, which did nothing.
Have a number of times been in the street while parallel parked trying to get in my car, when the buttons on either drivers side door don't work and cars whizzing by 2 feet away bc I can't get in-- it's a bit of a safety issue. I manage around it but...
@CincyRovers How did you get the dealer to agree to do the overlay harness for the keyless entry?
I've taken mine in and they replaced the battery in the key, which did nothing.
Have a number of times been in the street while parallel parked trying to get in my car, when the buttons on either drivers side door don't work and cars whizzing by 2 feet away bc I can't get in-- it's a bit of a safety issue. I manage around it but...
I saw it on another thread on here. I don't know the TSB number, but I sent an email to the service manager at my dealer asking him about a TSB for the keyless entry harness and he knew exactly what I was talking about, and I made an appointment to have it resolved. I suggest doing the same thing. hopefully they can help you out!
I am now on my third visit to my local dealer (LR Denver) for this issue amongst a couple other small things. The dealer has now realized that the diff needs replaced. Similar to you, the parts are on back order with no eta. My defender has been at the dealer since December 10, 2024 and it is now near the end of January. Not sure how long one should reasonably wait for their vehicle to be fixed but a total of 3+ months seems excessive to properly diagnose and fix.
Originally Posted by Submariner2009
Another (and hopefully final) update: After two fluid flushes and the dealer's outreach to LR's Tech Assistance and corporate for approval, the rear differential has been replaced. It took a few weeks to get the part from the UK and then a few days to install them.
Thus far, the sound is gone, as is the sound/vibration that became increasingly more apparent at low speeds (towards the end you could feel the vibration if sitting in the back seat). I've driven it for several days and a couple hundred miles: so far, so good, unlike right after the times when they did the fluid flush and the sound came back the next day.
My car has ~37,000 miles and ~4 months remaining on the warranty. The major part used was LR135862, which appears to have cost between $4,000 and $5,000 alone. I have no idea how many hours went into the repair, but I'm confident it was substantial.
I appreciate everyone who previously posted about this issue and the TTB and provided some guidance. I love this car, and knowing a relatively well-known issue across many LR models has been addressed is reassuring.
Not a solution, by any means but perhaps preventative scheduling on these rear e-diffs should be tweaked down from 63000miles.
I did mine at 50000miles and it has become noticeably quieter. Seems like for such an expensive, seemingly delicate part, a more rigorous schedule is in order. I plan on doing mine again at 75000.
It really sucks that parts can't be sourced for repairs. It's maddening to be on the $hitty end of that stick.
I found the location of the fuse — it's in the rear, on the right-hand side.
After removing it, the noise disappeared. I verified the error using the GAP IID tool with the fuse removed. When I reinstalled the fuse, the noise returned.
I performed a double flush of the differential, but the noise remains. I'll try using an additive, but I suspect the differential may need to be repaired or replaced.
The car is a P400e, which has a 4.1:1 gear ratio — not the most common one, as it's only found on the 2.0L petrol engines.
Last edited by Johan6504@gmail.com; May 25, 2025 at 01:23 AM.
They want u to pay for the diff oil change that is stated in the bulletin? Is your vehicle still under the new vehicle warranty? Or is it now cpo or aftermarket warranty?
Regarding your question as to what type of warranty it is; would a CPO be different in regards to this differential issue? I asked because my truck is a CPO.
