Front Differential Dead..need help

[flyweed]

Hey guys. Ok, my wife was driving my 2004 Envoy XL, about 25mph when she had the car "jerk" heard something "drop" and the tires chattered a bit on the blacktop. I went and towed her to my local mechanic. They called and said the front differential "blew up"....now I do most of my own car repairs, I've done struts, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, brakes, etc etc. My question is....if I find a used or rebuilt front Diff. is the replacement pretty DIY? are there any videos out there of replacing one?

I have already looked at used and rebuilt front diffs. and they go anywhere from $200 -$500. If I have my local mechanic do it (not a stealership) what can I expect to pay for the repair?

THanks for any help

Dan

 

[The_Roadie]

How many miles on the vehicle, and what's the fluid maintenance history on the diffs and the transfer case? If the diff destroyed itself from deferred maintenance, the transfer case may not be far behind. I'd rather you be prepared for both things going south, in case that's beyond your budget and you want a quick way to make it driveable - which is to make sure you have good fluid in the transfer case at least, then remove both CV shafts until it's warm enough to fix at your leisure.

There are manuals available for download here by member Mooseman. I don't recall a video, but there are threads here and on offroadtb.com about the process. There are three major ways to do it - ALL of them not easy. The book rate for the replacement is over ten hours of labor, if I remember correctly. Dealers have charged $2000 for labor, and a ridiculous amount for a new one.

Ask your mechanic to check his flat rate manual to get an idea what he'd quote. Our predictions of what he SHOULD quote are meaningless.

It's very, very tight in there, and you can take it out the top after removing the alternator, PCM, and driver's side motor mount. You can take it out the bottom after removing most of the suspension aprts, and the steering rack, or maybe it's just the crossmember. The third way is to disassemble the diff halves to make for smaller pieces to get out, then do the same to the replacement diff, and reassemble it in position like a ship in a bottle. That idea gives me nightmares because it could take a week!

 

[IllogicTC]

It's not the assembly of parts, it's that you have to put it all together where it mates well, and have to have the means and knowledge to measure things involving how the gears are meshing and whatnot. THAT'S the scary part.

 

[flyweed]

Well, I can tell you that all fluid changes have been done, at recommended intervals by me. That would be transmission fluid, filter replacement, transfer case fluid changed and front and rear differentials as well. So I know the history on ALL of the fluids in the vehicle.

We'll see what my local repair shop guy tells me tomorrow.

Dan

 

[Cable810]

I have a Front Diff I'm selling has the 3.42 Ration.