Hi
My X300 tends to wriggle during the driving. I have changed all shocks and their lower bushes as well as tires. So I had a four wheel orientation adjusting done and all should be adjusted according the books. Anyhow the wriggling and slight turning right remained. So, the four wheel orientation was repeated. During the second trial, the mechanic found, that there is a big loose movement in the wheel when twisting the wheel from top and down. The movement/loose seems appear because the drive shaft is moving quite much in and out from the differential. Is this something typical? Could someone help to identify the problem and how to fix it? All help is greatly wellcome.

 

No, it's not normal.
The flange on the diff is held on with a single large nut, to get at it, the half shaft needs to be removed, this could be loose, but it's more likely to be the side bearing that has wear & needs to be replaced. There is a casting that is bolted on with external torx head bolts (5 or 6). This has to be removed to replace the bearing. I've not done this on the car so I don't know how easy or otherwise this is; I did my diff on a bench & some of the bolts were difficult to remove.

The bearing needs shimming to ensure there is minimal movement, as the half shaft is also the top suspension link. However, the existing shims in there should work with a new bearing assuming nothing else is damaged.

 

From X300 Service Guide | Xclusively Jaguar
Front and rear wheel (hub) bearingsWith the car safely supported so that the tyres are off the ground, rotate each wheel by hand, feeling for roughness and listening for grinding/rumbling sounds (indicating worn bearings). Attempt to rock/pull the wheel in/out (holding it at the top/bottom), watching for movement (Note: For the rear wheels this check may also highlight unwanted movement in the driveshafts’ universal joints).

 

The output stub axle bearing can be done with the diff in-situ.

Just unbolt the axle halfshaft from the flange, move it out of the way and remove the bearing retainer plate along with the stub axle.

 

bolts holding in the short output shaft retaining plate ( item # 12 ) seem to be different then torque bits but the term torque plus is what I ran across somewhere

There is a TSB on removing the short shaft bearing retaining collar , item # 16

https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.com/parts/index/part/id/C50.C5044.C5044258.C50442584963/brand/jaguar/

 

Hi The Black MUNK,

You're thinking of the pinion shaft, where the driveshaft/propshaft meets the differential. The output shafts that connect to the half-axles are secured by retaining plates held to the diff by five hex-head screws.

The large images are still down at the Jag-Lovers forum, but you can see the thumbnails and descriptions for the procedure of replacing the output shaft bearings at these links (the X300 uses the same GKN Salisbury 15HU differential as the XJ40):

Differential Output Shaft Bearings R&R - Part 1
Differential Output Shaft Bearings R&R - Part 2

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks everyone for the help. As there is neither noise nor leak from the differential I started to doubt my original diagnosis of the loose movement coming from the differential. Could the movement/space when trying the wheel from top and down come from the C-joints of the driving shaft? The car has only 95 000 km behind.

 

The joints in the drive shaft are well worth checking out, as they could cause the symptom you refer to, especially if not regularly greased, which is not unheard of.

 

Ah yes, apologies, no nuts on those flanges. Just knackered bearings...

 

I have understood that there should be some float in the end of the output axle from the differential. Does anybody know, how much is the allowed float in the differential output and how to measure it correctly?

I really hope, it would be ok, which would mean that the float is coming from U-joints of the drive shaft, if I have understood correctly.

Petri

 

The axle half shafts are the upper control arm.
There is a spec for the deep groove ball bearing 'play'.
I don't remember what it is but it is not zero.

 

Off the top of my head, I believe the end float spec is something like 0.003 inch, so it's just barely detectable. If yours is the least bit sloppy feeling, it's too much.

 

I looked after the value from other sources also, and found the value 0,001-0,006 inch. So your memory was working well. Thanks again for all the help.

 

Hi again

now I am in a situation, where I have decided to replace both the universal joints and the final end bearing (with the sealing and o-ring). Any guidance from somebody with the experience?

To remove the axels between the final drive and the wheel hub, is it enough to open the hub nut on the hub side and the four nuts fastening the axle flange to the final drive? I guess some knocking is required to release the axel from the hub after opening the nut.

All advice is welcome.