rear drive axel popping out of differential
 

has anyone Encountered this problem...there is lot of play between the wheel assembly and the Differential ...I can grab the Drive axle and literally move it back and forth. Up till now I have been just pulling over and popping the drive axle back into the differential And I'm able to drive it after that for many miles
The problem seems to be getting progressively worse And and I am no longer able to drive the car
...Any pointers would be helpful

...oops ....the car is a 1982 wagon 300td

There has to be play in the axle. Your car has an independent rear suspension and the distance between the diff and the wheel changes as the suspension does its job. The axle is retained with a circlip on the differential side and a nut on the wheel side and there are splines that allow for the movement. If the play is excessive, I'd check those. If you're saying you can't drive the car until you've physically moved the axle and "reengaged" the splines, you've probably managed to strip them.

...and no it's never happened to me and I've never heard of it happening, but that's not necessarily meaningful.

thanks very much...
i guess im gona need help locating a new differential ;(

You may not need a new differential.... Pull it apart and see what the real problem is. If you're lucky it may only be the axle. Not likely, but it's better to replace what's broken than get something you only suspect.

When you get it apart, post pictures of what you've found.

ok... is the shaft moving inside the hubs on each end of the shaft, you have a damaged joint, and need to replace the axle.

if, however, you have the hub moving inside the differential itself, then most likely the circlip has come off the stub, and may have damaged the spiders...

only way to know if that is the case is to pull the rear cover off the diff, and inspect.

i dont think its the joint...the whole drive axel asembly moves about (what seems like) half or 3/4 of an inch between the differential and wheel (sliding piston like)
want To thank all of you for your input You're helping me keep me from despairing

question...can "spiders" etc be replaced without Removing the differential I'm not familiar with The inner workings?

when you say "whole drive axle assembly"

what exactly is moving.

there is a hub bolted to the outer brake assembly, there is a hub held into the differential with a clip inside the differential, and there is a solid shaft that slides between the two hubs.

please explain exactly what is moving.

Better yet, shoot a video, post it to YouTube and post the link.

(A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a hundred pictures...or something like that)

The Spiders are not sold separately.

Obviously rebuilders like CVJ get them from some were or have some process for reworking the spider and use different sized Balls in them. But, they are not a reatail item.

Take a look at this DIY article. It shows the inside of the Differential and
how the "C" clip fits on the axle and the other end in the hub, showing the bolt.

PeachPartsWiki: Replacing the Differential

The left picture shows the Spider Gears in the Diff.

http://www.peachparts.com/diy/w123differential/06.jpg



Charlie

I'm afraid I just don't have the video and YouTube capabilities... If I grab the axle and Slide it back and forth between the wheel hub and the The differential... from what I'm reading here and looking at the pictures posted by charmelu, it sounds most likely that the c clamp has come off
and per haps i let the problem go too lomg and maybe f'd up the gears
thanks! and Ill read the wiki article

so. you are saying, the end of the axle that goes into the differential, is moving from the differential.

you actually see space between the differential housing, and the axle stub hub as you move the axle back and forth.

If you grab a hold of the metal rod part of the Axle that is going to slide in and out because that is what it was made to do.

If you go and Grab the portion of the Axle that is attached to the Differential which is between the boot closest to the Differential and the Differential and pull on that and it comes out of the Differential and you see splines on that Shaft then you need to look in side the differential to see what happend.

See the text on the attached pic.