Good evening ,

The diff of my xk8 from 1998 make more and more noise from 50 km/h to max when accelerating and decelerating with a little vibration.
Another noise is coming when turning right or left at low speed around 10 km/h.

No noise when diff is cold, only when warm (after 5-10 min drive).

I've try many things but nothing better.
The oil was replaced at 160 000 km (100 000 miles) and the car has now 183 000 km (around 115 000 miles). I used the 75w90 from jaguar shell spirax as recommended. No leak at all.
I added an additive from liquid moly.
The shaft have grease and no play, the rear wheel bearing have been changed last year.
The tires are news goodyear asymetric 3 fitted last mount.

So i've a big issue with the diff as expected (many threads on the forum talk about that but never give a complete solution as i know and read).

i made some searches over the forum and over internet, but never find the spec of the diff.
Each time i contacted someone to have a quotation it was "impossible mission", no easy at all, excepting Tom Lenthall.

So what do you thing ?

Is it possible to have the spec of the diff and all the references of the bearing and parts of it ? I've found some ref for bearing but not all (outer bearing, spin bearing ...)

What do you recommend :

- find a used one and replace ?
- buy a new one ?
- improve and overhaul mine ?
- rebuild it (i could find someone to help me to do that but need the spec and the reference of all the parts) ?

Could the problem come from the diff bushes or the driveshaft flextor or U joints ?

Tom Lenthall give me theses informations:

around 1000 £ + VAT to overhaul (bearings and seals) supplied and fitted
around 895 £ + VAT for Quaife LSD
around 650 £ + VAT if i send the diff
arround 300 £ + VAT each output shaft bearing

What are the risk to drive with noise (i mean, could i go to England with a noisy diff to repair it, or would it be recommended to send it) ?

I'm really interesting in overhaul the diff and maybe add the quaife LSD, but first and if possible, i would find the way to rebuilt it for beginning, it would be great.

What do you thing ? any advises, any recommendations ?

 

I would replace it with a used one, especially if you can do it yourself. There must be reputable wreckers in the UK that one of the members can suggest.

Then, when it's back on the road you could take the existing one apart, and go from there depending on what you find.

 

Best indeed to buy a good 2nd hand one as a base, as once the gears make noise you can throw them away. Good ones can be had for 300-400 euros.

Then when you change the internals (i.e. a quaife diff), also change the 4 bearings. I have used now A&R in the Netherlands, and can highly recommend them, they do the job for about 550 Euros (includes the 2 pinion and 2 diff bearings/seals).

For heavily modified XKRs (so not a XK8), I would definitely recommend a shot peen treatment of the gears as well, I have used Elgamec so for this in the UK.

 

HI,

Thanks for advises, i will try to find a used one first.

Which max kilometers do you recommend to buy ?

Any good names or addresses for reputable wreckers in uk or europe ?

I try to find used diff, but there are very expensive, around 1000 £ ...

Guillaume

 

You can try Jagparts in the Netherlands:
Jag Parts & Cars.

They have fair prices and so far I have always gotten good parts from them!

 

Hi Guys,

I just ordered a Quaife, as my pinion bearing is beginning to howl too. I figured I'll do it all together.

My question is: Is the precision required (ie preload, shimming, etc) in the rebuild of the diff, or the actual install of the whole unit back into the car?
Or is it needed in both the rebuild and the install?

I know first hand that shimming and alignment of the hub components and doing it all properly (down to hundredths) is critical.

My indie didn't want to touch it with a ten foot pole...

Evan

2003 XKR Convert
128K

 

I would say definitely yes and to rebuild the full unit, do it right in one go!

Having the bearings not done right WIL shorten their life, and consequently the life of the gears as well.

I had bought once from the UK a 2nd Hand diff (which was supposed to be good) with the Quaife unit installed. I guess they did not tough the pinion setup, to save time/effort and installed the Quaife in it. The unit lasted about 10K, then the bearings where shot, so had to replace the gears as well.

 

I recently had to replace the diff. I used a recuperated part which I payed 650Euro.
Take into account that there is a big chance you need to replace the rear subframe also.

 

all4Jags.com has one on offer for 500Euro.
Make sure it is the correct type, you have jaguar diffs with 3 bolts to connect the shafts and with 4 bolts.

 

Thanks for the input avos, I'm doing it right, not gonna try to cut corners on this one...

 

Just to throw it out there: with high miles and possibly several sources of noise, would it be simpler to do a complete overhaul of the rear end, especially if you wanted to keep the car long term? Would it be possible for you to locate a complete rear end (sub-frame and everything attached to it) from a wrecker, and do a part-by-part cleanup? There is at least a thread of someone documenting their progress on this forum. This way, you could replace all bushings, deal with any corrosion, repaint all parts, re-weld cracks, sandblast or powder-coat, check the shocks, etc. and do all of it "offline", in the comfort of your garage, while you keep driving your car. Then, when the time is right, you could swap it out, and offer you old stuff for sale for the next guy to offset the cost. Just a thought.

Bonne chance, gardez-nous au courant.

 

I think that i will do that ( complete overhaul of the diff ). After many searches, a used diff is around 600-800 euros and a rebuild is around 1000 euros.

I will continue to compare all the available possibilities in case of.

Because i had to remove the diff, my next project is to remove the complete rear subframe/diff.

I will let you know when the project will begin. I hope asap (before summer).

 

Do I need anything besides the pinion bearings and the short shaft bearings when I swap in the Quaife? Assuming the ring and pinion gears are OK..
TIA.

 

Only someone halfway skilled in putting a diff together.

The guys who did mine also added a small drain plug in the case to make oil changes easier. Not required, but something to think about.

 

Still waiting for the Quaife.

I'm going to buy a used carrier and have the whole thing rebuilt with the LSD.

To confirm: The number stamped on the two I'm looking at is C14HU-004-003.

The reason I ask, is the two diffs I'm looking at have this exact PN and look identical, but one wrecker says it will NOT fit the 2003 XKR, while the other wrecker who has one with the exact same number says it will..

I'm a bit confused. My understanding is 1997-2006 XK/XKRs all use the same carrier?

Is there any sub part # or designation I'm missing?

Member BleuJag says there are three bolt and four bolt variations.. (See below)


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Old 04-09-2016, 07:00 AM
Bleujag
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all4Jags.com has one on offer for 500Euro.
Make sure it is the correct type, you have jaguar diffs with 3 bolts to connect the shafts and with 4 bolts.

 

That's correct, however there was a 3.31 (or so) version for the Mexican market.

Also correct, but the 3 bolt ones are from the XJ x308 series. Don't know what type number is written on them, could be the same even.

 

Have you checked your ujoints after it's warm and making noise.

 

Finally got my Quaife and a decent pig chunk. All the bearings, collars and seals are on the way. Found a great diff rebuild shop that British Motors uses, so this little project is almost done.....finally.

They'll completely rebuild the diff with my parts for $250. About $1000 for the chunk and all the bearings. Prob $1000-$1200 for the install, plus the Quaife.

An expensive howl, but my ex wife's howl was a lot more expensive.....