Front diff making metal

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Krill

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I have been trying to trace down a strange vibration/low rumble noise I started hearing on my last trip from palm beach to Georgia. it sounds and felt like the start of a wheel bearing going out( which made sense because the passenger side had blown out less than a month ago and I had to replace it in an auto zone parking lot) but the noise happens when there is no pressure on the drive line( for example: letting off the gas and letting the car coast or if you're going down a small downgrade and the car is rolling faster than your applying the gas) so in the pit of my stomach I kinda feared that it wasn't as simple as a wheel bearing

so I replaced the front driver wheel hub
which led to me replacing the cv axel as well(trying to rush through the job as fast as possible and like a dummy cross threaded the hex nut)
checked for play in the drive shafts like I've read about on these forums

still heard the nose so I replace all the fluids( transfer case, front and rear diff) and thats where I got nervous. rear diff fluid was perfect, looked brand new, very little "mud" on the magnetic plug. transfer case same thing, slightly dirtier that the new fluid I pumped in but it was still almost clear.....and then I got to the front diff fluid wasn't all the way black but very dirty and the plug and a lot of "mud" on it along with physical flakes of metal.

so what are your thoughts on it. id really like to drop the diff and rebuild it but right now dont have the time or money to do it. the noise isn't bad at all yet, the only reason I heard it was because the radio was off and I could kinda feel something in the steering wheel( which I could be overanalyzing and just feeling tire tread vibrations as they wear down--goodyear duratrac)

do you think this is cause for concern? id hate to have the thing lock up and be an even more costly repair shortly down the road.

in the photo you can't see but the flakes were 1/8"x1/8" circles mostly some rectangular
 

ryanjl

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So long as all the material on the drain plug was fine particles, I think it's okay. If there were any large chunks, that would be emblematic of a problem. The front diff probably does a little more work than the center or rear diffs, given it's on the steering axle, so it's probably natural to have a little bit more wear.
 

ryanjl

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I re-read your original post and saw the 1/8" x 1/8" mention. Are they thick chunks, or just flakes? If it's the latter, I'd be a lot less worried about it.

How many miles on your LR4, and has the fluid ever been changed before?
 

Krill

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I re-read your original post and saw the 1/8" x 1/8" mention. Are they thick chunks, or just flakes? If it's the latter, I'd be a lot less worried about it.

How many miles on your LR4, and has the fluid ever been changed before?

they were thin flakes(kind of like fish scales) ive got 170,000 now. bought it 8 months ago with 130,000 the records said the fluid was changed at around 75k I think but thats it
 

ryanjl

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I wouldn't worry about it. It's wear, no doubt, but if the flakes are that thin it will probably only manifest itself as a bit more noise.

40,000 miles in 8 months? Holy cow. Road warrior.
 

Krill

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I wouldn't worry about it. It's wear, no doubt, but if the flakes are that thin it will probably only manifest itself as a bit more noise.

40,000 miles in 8 months? Holy cow. Road warrior.

great! thanks for the advice, I guess ill just keep an eye on it and see how it progresses. yeah its been a crazy past 8 months, multiple trips to Boston, 8 trips to North Carolina....you should see my fuel bill:'( but not once have I questioned its reliability, its honestly a great car, and amazing on long trips. only thing ive noticed is that compared to when I got it, it shifts at a higher RPM but I think thats just from the computer adjusting for driving habits. if I unplug the battery for 10 minutes and reconnect will it reset to default?
 

ryanjl

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The only way I know of to reset the transmission to default is using the iiD tool, but you should not do this without also totally rebuilding your transmission as the parameters have slowly taken into account the wear on various parts of the transmission. Resetting the transmission without also installing new versions of these parts is a recipe for a bad time.
 

Krill

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The only way I know of to reset the transmission to default is using the iiD tool, but you should not do this without also totally rebuilding your transmission as the parameters have slowly taken into account the wear on various parts of the transmission. Resetting the transmission without also installing new versions of these parts is a recipe for a bad time.

oh yeah didn't want to go that in-depth. transmission shifts smooth every time just instead of it shifting at 1500rpm( when I bought it) it shifts at around 2000 which is just from some poor driving habits im trying to change(heavy foot, use to my old supercharged L322 I had before this)thanks for all your help!!
 

Keith Hollis

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It looks and sounds like you could rebuild it now, but once the sound changes and bigger chunks break off in there you'll be looking for a rebuilt unit to exchange yours with. There's a point where it's going to cost more and the repair will be more involved.

Pay now, or pay later...

This is common.

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