This past weekend, I finally tore into the rear diff on our 2008 LR2 with 228K on the clock. It's on its 2nd diff and this one has about 140K on it but had been making the characteristic pinion bearing howl for the last 20K or so, so I finally decided to tear it down. Sure enough, the front bearing was shot (see pic). It was a straightforward job with the right tools. Just waiting on the service kit for the Haldex to arrive and I'll put it all back into the car. I only replaced the bearing that was bad and left the others as they are. I went over all 3 of them with a hand lens and they're undamaged. So, $50 in parts and hopefully it will last a few more years to get our son through college. We love this car - our favorite of the 3 Land Rovers we've owned since 2004.

 

I wish someone would make ceramic bearings for these cars. It would virtually eliminate these issues.

 

@geotrash , curious, in that 140000 miles, how frequently did you change the diff fluid?

 

Sorry for the delay. Every 30K.

 

OEM, or synth?

 

OEM. This time I put in Amsoil Severe Gear.

 

Update: I'm a couple thousand miles into it now since rebuilding the diff and it's still quiet as can be and no leaks. Fingers crossed that it will stay that way.

 

Was it easy to replace? Did you just open the differential cover or is it more involved? Mine is also a 2008 LR2 with 180k miles and its been humming for a while.
Thanks in advance!

 

Sorry for the delay - been on the road.

There is a great YouTube video on it in Russian, lol, but it helped immensely. Long story short, the whole diff has to come out of the car and be rebuilt on the bench. Not hard, but time consuming and requires a special tool that I purchased on evilBay to get the pinion shaft nut off/on.

 

Can you please share the special tool description or link to buy from. And do you know the torque for tightening the bearing.
Mine is making this annoying sound and I wanna get it done self. And this video is really helpful.
Thanks