My dirrerential is making a lot of noise. I jacked up the rear end and rotated the rear wheels a bit and found there is a a good bit of play before there is any movement in the drive shaft. Does this indicate a problem in the differential? If so can anyone gieve me an idea of what the problem may be?

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Check the fluid?

 

Hi Turbo,

Fluid good. Some Youtube videos I found on differential repairs suggest maybe worn gears or shims. Is this a big and expensive deal to have repaired for the 89 with a Dana 35 ? Do the axels have to be pulled to replace the pinion gear and associated shims?

Some years ago I had a 76 Ford with a differential noise problem and it turned out to be a bolt coming loose in the differential, I seem to recall it was a bolt holding one of the axel bearings.. Easy and inexpensive fix .... but I think the problem with the 89 is much more.

 

If there is no metal or H2O in the fluid the only way to determine the source of the sound would be to tear in to it.

 

The Gods are not smiling today! While driving the other day there was a clunking sound and intermittent slipping of gears on a few inclines on my way home, but got home without any real problems. I decided to chat with the mechanic I use when I think things are more than I want to tackle and arranged to take the car to his garage, about 1 1/2 miles away this morning. On the way, which included a few uphill inclines, there were some more really load clunks and gear grinding about halfway there, and I pulled the Jeep over to the side of the road. I walked back to my house, got another car, and drove to the garage and explained what happened to the Jeep.

My mechanic agreed to come with me to the Jeep and check it over. Putting the Jeep in gear and trying to move it really made grinding noise, and the Jeep only moved slightly ...with a lot of grinding noise. We agreed it needed to be towed.

I drove the mechanic back to his garage and he is in the process of developing some options and estimated costs. It is obvious the differential will need to be replaced or rebuilt. Sad to say, maybe its time to say goodbye to this old workhorse...... But I'll wait to see what the potential cost to fix is.

 

Sounds like a perfect excuse for an upgrade!

 

Sorry, but sounds like the gears are already toast. I think it would be a much smarter (and probably cheaper) idea to swap the axle IF your mechanic says the gears need to be replaced.

 

MY mechanic got me two estimates. One was for putting in a used rear end from a junk yard ( no guarantee of anything) for $450, and an estimated labor cost of $500. The other was an estimate from a specialty shop that rebuilt differentials without removing the rear end for $900 with a one years warranty.

A search of the Internet and local papers for a possible used replacement Jeep didn't turn up any thing promising, so I decided to have differential rebuilt. I picked up the Jeep yesterday after talking to the shop manager. Seems the cause of the differential failure was some deteriorated bearings that allowed play and the ring and pinion gear to all chewed up. The drive home was the quietest ride I've had in that car in 10 years!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. Great forum.