Hello esteemed Jag fans,

My 2003 XJR's rear differential grenaded this morning (94K of hard miles) and went from just loud whining to what sounds like it lost a few teeth (with loud, wheel skipping jerks every 1/3 wheel revolution).

Looking at the diff it seems relatively simple to remove after you've gotten access to it - lower the subframe, remove output shaft bolts, remove input shaft bolts, remove from subframe - yet the Jag shops I'm talking to are saying 10-12 hours for the work. What am I missing? How terrible of an idea is it to attempt this as a DIY?

Thanks!

 

I would not want to try it in a driveway!

 

10-12 hours must be assuming a rebuild of the differential and then a couple of hours as a safety margin.

When I dropped the W member out of my wrecked 2001 XJ8 that took about 1.5 hours but I was learning as I went.

In the past I've been able to do a gear change in about 4 hours and that included all the bearings in a standard live axel.

Figure another 1.5 hours to put everything back together. So that's 7 hours if everything goes perfect.

 

BTW I did drop it in the driveway and it was a gravel drive at that.

Multiple floor jacks were required. Then I sat the W member down on two 2x6's and used them like skis to get it out from under the car.

Doing the job on a concrete drive or garage floor I'd use a couple of 4 wheel movers dollies to roll it out from under the car instead. I keep a few of them around for rolling around transmissions and other heavy stuff.

 

I just did it two weekends ago in my driveway. It sucked, but was doable. I'm not well, so I hired a neighbor to help. Even with me not being able to get around much, it only took about 6 hours. Nothing was really technically difficult, just heavy stuff. I replaced the pumpkin with a 74k mile one from a wrecking yard for $300. All in all, it's nice to hear no noise...

Jack up and block heavily. I used 4 3-ton jack stands and kept the jack around just in case. I left the front wheels on the ground and blocked them.

Placed rolling jack under pumpkin.
Removed Wheels.
Removed Axles and Drive line (11 bolts total).
Removed brackets at outer edges that hold everything in place (3 Bolts each Side).
Removed Brake Calipers (2 allens), Parking Brake Cable (1 adjusting nut), Anti Lock Wiring (Unclipped and moved out of way).
Unbolted Shock Towers from body (8 bolts total).
Lowered Jack to drop everything down in one piece and rolled from under car.
Removed Pumpkin and replaced watching carefully where all the washers/bolts go.
Greased 4 universals on axles while out.
Rolled unit back under car and reversed above procedure.

I had already done my brakes about 2 months ago, or I would have done them while out.

Sorry I didn't take photos, I was not sure I was even going to be able to get it back together, and I was paying my guy by the hour.

My Local Independent shop quoted me $1500 for the pumpkin and installation. In fact, the EXACT pumpkin I installed because the wrecking yard told me he had called about it.

AAMCO quoted me $640 to install it for me if I supplied it. I paid my guy $200. I saved money, and he made $200 for 6 hours. He normally charges neighbors $15/hr for yard work, mechanic work, etc, so we were both happy. Besides, I like to do my own work any time I can. That way, I know every bolt has been installed right... Well, at least I think so. My wife says I'm sort of a control freak.

 

It certainly can be done, but as mentioned above....it's not going to be any fun!

 

Nope, can't say it was a lot of fun. Educational, but not fun.

 

Thanks, all, for the informative replies, as always. I'm so tempted to do this one myself but I think I'll just let the pros do it this time around as I'd have to spend a lot to tow it to my garage anyways.

Looking forward to getting the car back!

 

`I am going to have to do this to my 2003 xjr r1. does anybody know if the diff is universal? will any one from a 1998 to 2003 work for me? The number on my case is 14hu-010-002. I have done a 1998 suburban entire third member replacement, and this sounds similar. Also, when I get a used diff, should I change out the fluid, and if so, what fluid would those of you who have done this recommend.

 

My 1999 has the exact same part number on the case. I don't know if that means it's identical inside, but I would think so unless they did a gearing change. If I remember corectly, I believe my replacement was out of a 2002 with 74k miles on it. As far as Gear Oil, I just used a brand name Synthetic from the local AutoZone. I DID change the oil before installing it because it was easy while out and on the ground, and who knows if it's ever been done before. The old oil was pretty clean and smelled fine, but I'm glad I did it anyways just for peace of mind. I believe it was only around $20 for all the oil. As mentioned before, I paid $300 for mine, so hopefully you will find one for that much or less.

 

To Supersport -
When you jack up the car and put it on jackstands, where do you position the jackstands? Is it obvious? Thx.

 

Unfortunately, No it's not. In the wrong spot, it crushes through the floor of this 2.5 Ton Beast. I ended up placing two at bolt locations and also used two with 18" 2x4's along the box tube that runs along the length of underneath. I used 4 stands and kept the front tires on the ground, so less weight on the stands. I'm sure two stands would have been fine, but I had a friend under the car with me, so I didn't want to take any chances. I also had a floor jack at the rear for lowering, removing, and raising up the diff.

I realize this is the poor mans way of doing it, but it's what I've got at the moment.

 

The driveway replacement guys are heros, in my opinion. Not a job for a winter day, or even spring/autumn. I am now of the age when I have given this sort of thing up, and use a local guy near my work.

 

Any chance someone has some pictures now? I had a differential leak that was fixed, but i now have a high pitched squeal at lower speeds. More like lower coasting. I want to remove the rear diff from another car I have, and then have a shop install it on my daily driver (xj8). Besides asking to see if anyone has some photos, I guess I'd ask if there is any danger removing it. I don't want to kill myself because a coil comes flying loose.

Thanks,

Dan

 

XJROh3 and Dan,

The photos below are of the diff work on our '93 XJ40, which is obviously a little different from the X308 but identical in function. The pix will give you an idea of the work involved. Swapping diffs is absolutely doable in the driveway as long as you follow good safety procedures. Rebuilding the diff is also doable at home, but if you can pay for a professionally-rebuilt unit on an exchange basis, that would be my first recommendation, since there is a LOT to learn about properly setting up a diff for long life and quiet running, and getting anything wrong is going to mean doing it over again.

Cheers,

Don

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Don B,

Thanks for those pics. They're awesome!!

I'll be fighting time on this one. I was hoping to put it off a little, but today the noise went from a high pitch hum to a much lower noise. Sounds like an un-greased bearing might sound. Not the kind of sound that makes you feel comfortable. I'm going to hold off driving until i can fix it this weekend or get it to a shop next Wednesday. Has anyone else had their rear diff go out in a similar way? For example, it really only hums when i slow down by releasing my foot off the gas. Nothing at higher speeds or whenever I accelerate on the city roads.

Thanks again for the pics. I hope I have time to do it myself this weekend. Unfortunately lately, the problems seem to arise when I'm busy with a bunch of other things or its frigid outside.

Dan

 

I'm getting the run around trying to get my rear differential fluid changed. Had some guys tell me they can rack it & use a suction tool to remove it(but they are booked for weeks & 100 miles away). The local guys are quoting 8-10 hours labor dropping the sub-frame etc @ 800$.

 

King Charles,

Our '93 has a drain plug on the differential that makes draining easy. Refilling it is a little more awkward because the fill hole is about half-way up the rear cover. Working from below you have to do it mostly by feel. If you remove the trim in the trunk/boot you may find a plug in the bulkhead sheet metal that when removed opens a hole that allows easier access to the diff fill plug.

If your diff does not have a drain plug, you should still be able to remove nearly all the old fluid using a "fluid transfer pump," available for less than $10.00 at most auto parts stores. I think mine are made by Prestone and are bright orange in color, and if I recall correctly they cost about $7.99. One hose is the suction tube, and the other hose is the discharge tube. Easy as pie to pump fluid out of a diff, transmission, crankcase, etc. Refilling with new oil is the reverse - you pump oil into the diff. When it reaches the level of the drain hole and spills out, the level is correct. This is a job just about any home mechanic can do in the driveway with the rear end raised and safely supported on jack stands.

I can't think of any possible reason that the rear end would need to be dropped from the car. The parts diagram at jaguarclassicparts.com clearly shows a fill plug on the back cover of the X308 diff. Maybe I'm wrong - did they give a reason why the diff needs to be dropped to change the fluid?

Cheers,

Don

 

Lowering the subframe, if you had to do it, should be .5 hours. It is eight (8) bolts and a crosslink. but you only have to remove the rear bolts and loosen the front ones to drop the rear of the subframe 6 or 8 inches. I do that to remove the fuel lines from the tank. You need to find an honest (or less greedy) mechanic.

 

I'll continue to ask around even if I have to make a decent trip out of it.