After a fun filled weekend at ARN Mudfest in Hampton Downs, Nurse and I were ready to make the trip home.
We waved goodbye to Hampton Downs Raceway as we sailed down the motorway at 110km
Not 10 minutes later the Hilux made an almighty grinding noise.
I eased off the accelerator and coasted over to the grass verge.
“Sounds like you rear diff” Nurse said as we hopped out to check under the wagon.
No sign of damage, not leaking fluids or unusual smells…
So we popped it into reverse, no sound…
We hopped back on the motorway to find somewhere more appropriate to stop the wagon if we needed to leave it
‘Herb Garden, Turn Right’ ok we’ll stop there.
The noise had changed now, from impersonating a jet engine, to impersonating my Subaru; wobwobwobwob
But only in higher gears at low revs…. Strange.
After a few phone calls to both Auckland and Wellington boys, we were none the wiser. The noises caused more confusion than mechanical sense.
Next call was to Tim (normally in Hamilton, but out and about in Christchurch), he volunteered the services of Richard at Glenview Automotive **Richard is our GC of the month**
Nurse gave Richard a call
“Broken your Hilux have you?”
“It’s not mine! Pixie has broken her Hilux”
By now all odd noises had stopped, and we decided to drive to Hamilton for Richard to give the wagon a proper look over
An hour later, coasting down the expressway we arrived at Repco Hamilton
Richard looked over the wagon and took it for a drive
“There’s a wee bit of an extra noise there, might be a loose wheel baring. To be sure I’ll chuck it on the hoist at work”
20 minutes of driving through Hamilton and it’s on the hoist
Front passenger wheel – spin…
Front driver wheel – spin…
Rear passenger wheel – spi… Crunch, Lock.
So the diff was stuffed, beyond stuffed – ring gear missing teeth, pinion missing teeth, broken chunks of teeth falling out of the housing as the shiny silver fluid drains.
All three of us stood in awe, wondering; just how did my Hilux drive from Hampton Downs to Hamilton?
Pictures will be posted soon.
A BIG shout out to Richard from Glenview Automotive.
Rather than just remove the axels and drive back in front wheel drive, he’s given me his 4.8 to borrow until I can sort my wagon out.
He also switched the diff out for me. Nurse and I felt like right girls as he did all the work in brilliant time!
But for now, if you know of someone with a 4.55 LSD, please post below
