Catastrophic failure of Rear diff and repair DIY
 

I was leaving the house the other day turning right onto the street. About halfway through the turn I hear this loud BANG, it sounded like a backfire. As I was driving straight it wasn't outrageous but I could tell something was definitely wrong. I decided to turn around and get it back into the garage to investigate. As soon as I started turning the sound just got worse and worse. I limped a u-turn and backing into the garage was probably the worst noise I've ever heard from a car.

I could tell it was coming from the rear but from what I can see through the inspection hole the gears look OK so I'm not sure what's going on.

That looks like something broke and shot out the housing. Were it my car i would be removing the dif for a rebuild.


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That isnt an inspection hole.

It is, unfortunately, a hole.

Bad news. Very bad as you cannot get it rebuilt. You need a new diff case.

Look for a used diff.

No idea what caused that....

Hope the OP was joking about the inspection hole.

Find a used one at car-part.com. Differentials usually outlive the vehicle.

Lol. Got me,

That's not an inspection hole!?!?

Yes, I was joking. Sorry, I needed a laugh after the week I had.

As soon as I opened the door and was hit with that rancid smell of used diff oil I knew what the problem was.

I did get a used diff and swapped it out. I'll update the thread with repair

1. You could have asked a mod to alter the title.

2. You can still ask them to 'combine' the threads. The 'inspection hole' was funny, would be good to see that live on.

;)

I realized after I posted that that in advanced mode I can edit the title so I will continue this thread.

First pic is after removing the diff cover.

After I picked all the pieces out of the housing

The carrier put back together so you can see how where it broke apart.

There is some damage to the ring and pinion but my hunch is that is from the failure, not the cause of the failure. I would think that if the damage had happened previously there would be tell tale wear on the gears from the metal bits. To me the wear looks pretty good for 96k miles.

The fluid looks pretty clean, not like it has been grinding away for 20k miles then triggering this failure.....