Quick question - I'm replacing the rear diff on a new to me LR3. The current diff is coated in oil, and there's a crazy amount of bearing noise under acceleration etc. I have a diff to install off ebay which seems to be in ok shape.

Question is - can I open the new diff to inspect it without all the gears falling out etc? I just want to open the case and put back together. I'm pretty handy, but rebuilding differentials is not something I want to learn. Thanks!

 

lol no gears are going to fall out, if they do it wasn't good to start with.

 

Haha that's what I figured, but a sanity check was in order. Thanks!!

 

Post some pictures of what it looks like inside for the rest of us. I'm curious to see evidence of bearing and/or gear wear. Thanks.

 

Holy giant picture...but I got stuck. Can't get the bolts on the diff to budge and I need a break so I'll get back to it tomorrrow. Pic is of the rear diff drain plug (the bad one). Lots of shavings on the magnet, I'll post pics of the inside once I get the job done. Any tips besides heat on the rear diff mounting bolts?

 

Those don't look like shavings, they look like metallic sludge. You need to remove that material and wash it to really tell. But to me, that looks very normal.

 

Well I got the new diff in over the weekend. Quick shout out to this relatively cheap induction heater. Worked great for me and I don't think I could have done this without it. I'll try to get some pics of the old diff next weekend.

 

Well, the new (junkyard) diff fixed the bad bearing noise which is a relief. The old unit was covered in oil from the passenger side leaking, and the bearings were falling out of the passenger size axle hole (you can see them falling down on the top of the opening in the pic). Or whatever it's called. The oil leak and the bearings falling out were the only visual signs of wear, I didn't open the old diff up because I was exhausted. This thing was heavy, the shipping label said 122lbs and it felt like it.