Rear axle decision

[barryr]

I have a choice to make. My rear axle is off while I rebuild the rear springs and tidy up under the rear of the car.

I can see the diff pinion seal has been leaking but it also looks like the paper gasket joint is leaking as well. While the axle is off I could replace just the pinion seal or potentially pop the half shafts and out the diff to do the other gasket. I really do not know for sure if the diff was noisy as I had a whine which I originally thought gearbox but it seems not.

So... I could drop the diff off at a recnditioners for checking but am I right only a strip down would locate wear? Is there anything I could check before strip for slack etc?

Apart from cost of a potential unnecessary rebuild, I was concerned that as my rear hubs don't leak, popping the half shafts might make that more likely? I don't want to have to mess with rear bearings or hub seals if not needed!

I've purchased a paper gasket, a pinion seal and 2 hub o rings in case I decide to just do a clean up and paint.

Just wondered what you all think.. I don't have space in the garage to pop the half shafts with the axle on the car so now is a good time! - finally what socket does the diff drain plug need? I can't seem to find anything to fit it!

Look forward to comment all!

Barry

[barryr]

Meant to show axle pic....

[enigmas]

Barry you sound like you have a real dilemma there but probably more from the indecision than anything else. Unfortunately differential specialists are generally expensive. If your car produced a whining noise it'd be from the diff and not the automatic. Hopefully it's a bearing and not the gear set. So a visual inspection will be a good idea. If anything the planetary gear set thrust washers are probably well worn exaggerating any clonking noise between drive and coast situations or when initially engaging drive or reverse.

Bite the bullet, pull the axles and then the diff centre. If nothng else you'll have peace of mind ...and you can check for wear. Otherwise it's all just wishful thinking.

[eightofthem (Andy)]

It is one of those items, that when in situ is a bit of a struggle to deal with without a pit, or lift.
It's all there in front of you, I actually removed mine to do what you now face, mainly because I only have a single garage, so I just jacked the car up and wheeled the whole axle from under it.
Glad I did it that way, it made it very easy to renovate, and you are left with nice easy access underneath to fettle the underbody.

Final hurdles Barry.

[lagain]

Some years ago I noticed oil spray on the rear bumper I inquired about seal and paper gasket and was told that paper gasket was very unlikely, so just replaced the seal where the prop shaft goes in and it was fine.
A difficult decision though if it is whining, although fairly easy to remove from the car at a later date.
I probably do not need to mention to use GL4 hub oil and not GL5 which may damage the internals.

The drain plug can be a nightmare to undo as it is so soft. When I had a problem I used a ring spanner that was a very tight fit, but not sure what size - had to tap it on with a hammer !

[petervdvelde]

Barry,

I did a diff overhaul myself and it is not that difficult to do. There are fiber washer inside the diff and these wear and cause a too big clearance. The diff is identical to a Landrover model so parts are extremely cheap. Because of this , i also replaced the small gears and the gear shafts. I do have a press but if you would go to a car repair shop, they would press the bearing on for a few quit.
The only difficult thing is adjust the clearance between the main gears. The are adjusted by two large kind of nuts and if you count the revolutions, you are close. I think there is enough knowledge on the forum to get you successfully rebuild your diff. Here's my thread which may be of help roverp5.proboards.com/thread/6631/diff-rebuild

Good luck with your considerations

Peter

[barryr]

Thanks all,

Tonight I finished off a small patch in one of the jacking points - small hole not seen before while springs were in.

Then I took another look at the axle and sure enough even while sitting on axle stands I can see the pinion seal leaking. I am pretty sure the paper seal is ok.

I have time to think on it some more but an unexpected tax bill and a £400 bill for re- chroming looms so I may chance a paint up and refit. The priority here is to get this old girl on the road again then work on the smaller areas that need doing. Apart from the weight I am not scared of popping the axle off again if necessary in future.

I might reconsider though...

Oh and I now see a load of slack in the rear uj on the prop and some crusty looking rubber mounts for the centre- here we go again!

Cheers all - let you know how it goes.

Barry

Ps Off to the local garage with my new front Spring bushes for a pressing session tomorrow!

[eightofthem (Andy)]

Barry, you mentioned in your first post that you had a bit of a whine and you thought it likely to be the diff.
I also had that symptom, as you have now mentioned the worn U/J and crusty centre mount, it might be the propshaft centre bearing that is causing the whine, it was the cause in my case and once replaced runs nicely now.
I think CYF has recently replaced his, I will try to put a link here.

roverp5.proboards.com/thread/9310/propshaft-bearing

[barryr]

Thanks Andy - I suspect you may well be right!

More investigation to follow.....

[barryr]

I decided it's all too heavy to do it twice so I've bitten another bullet and axle strip in progress.
I'll have the diff out shortly and we will see what it looks like!

[barryr]

Well I rebuilt my springs in the sa

[barryr]

Oops last post truncated...

Springs rebuilt aka others on here with denso and faux leather cloth to resemble original.

My diff visually looked ok but naturally I couldn't assess bearing and shim condition. I dropped it off at great local place. 1 week later they stripped checked and rebuilt for £150 plus vat. All looked well but as bearings were a little blue they were replaced. The axle had next to no oil left and clearly a serious leak. The front seal I supplied was replaced and new bolts fitted. I can see the diff now feels much tighter than it was,

I've really struggled to replace the near side leaf Spring which appears to be an issue with the inner tube of the metalastic bush from Jrw. Either the tube is undersized or bent! Off side fitted easily.

Pic of rebuilt Spring attached - more of diff later?

[petervdvelde]

Thats a good deal especially if you don't have access to a press and don't feel comfortable with adjusting the crown wheel and pinion. i believe the number of workshops who can do this kind of work is rapidly going down as you need an old school mechanic for this.

Peter

[barryr]

As they say - refitting is reverse of removal!

www.dropbox.com/s/o3yz1zkx4o1sujc/rear%20axle%206.jpg?dl=0

[barryr]

My rear axle refurb and rear Spring rebuild finally nears completion.

Looking through the drivetrain I found play in the rear uj on the prop and later having dropped the whole prop off I found the centre uj wasn't done up properly! - suspect this accounts for a fair amount of noise and vibration I went looking for to start with.

Tonight I set about replacing the rear uj and rather annoyingly damaged one of the small rollers on the new part. Another now on order!

Having a workshop manual is invaluable and I urge everyone to get one. In the course of this project I have reset the rear handbrake linkage to spec and set the rear wheel cylinders correctly to float on their Thackeray washers. I've also correctly fitted the front Spring bushes. It's all so much more effective now. I also noted the centre carrier was simply bolted in the highest position. Before I acquired the car it had been serviced regularly but it just shows how without the factory info you can introduce as many problems as you solve.

With the exception of one or two jobs I'm finally just about done underneath having spent a cold winter lying there!

[Deleted]

Get a rear axle from a jensen interceptor... it'll have discs at the rear and will allow you to go faster