Was driving along the other day, changing up through the gears when I heard a really loud clunck from the rear end. Get home and look under the car to see the diff centre bolt hanging out and loose. I tried to tighten it up but I doesn't seem to biting into the thread.

Did a search and found a few threads on broken diff centre bolts - just want to get people thoughts to see if its the bolt that is broken or maybe something else?

I tried to jack the car up and tighten up thinking that the thread might not be lined up but that didn't seem to work either.

Any thoughts?

by the sounds of it You have snapped the thread off the bolt in the housing, and that sucks....

Happened to me a few months back, You have to drop the whole diff cradle out of the car to get to it and hopefully you haven't sheered the thread in the housing, If you have the get the new Mal wood one, replace the diff bush while your there and dont use another OEM ford bolt,they cost $38 and are a POS item.. I went to conventry fastners matched the thread , lenght ect and paid $4 for it.

Its also a good idea to check it every 10 k or so.. for piece off mind after that..

pete

definatly snapped bolt mate. exactly the same scenario as mine. the question is whether it has taken the backing plate thread with it. you will have to wait until its out of the car to know that for sure but.

the bolt is definatly weaker than the backing plate though, so it'd defn be broken.

So what do I need to do to get it going? It is still drivable but is parked in the garage, I have a Ford dealer just up the road, I might just drive it up there and get them to put a new one in before I organise a Mal Woods cover and a new bolt.

How much labour is involved in replacing the bolt?

it cost me a few hundred in labour. takes a coupla hours I guess. I have the section out of the service manual to do with dropping the diff if you want it. shoot me an email

[email protected]

actually sorry, cant find it, but the entire document is available for d/l. let me know if you need it and I'll shoot you the link.

Edited October 16, 200719 yr by XR06T

You will need the whole IRS subframe removed, at a cost of around 400 - 600 dollars depending on workshop.

You will most likely have ruined the diff cover plate, stripped the thread, along with stripping or snapping the bolt!

I have a cover plate for sale - as new, as I replaced the cover plate with a Mal Wood strengthened unit when I installed a firmer polyurethane diff bush.

the diff plate is taken off a near new diff which was replaced under warranty, has done 5000kms.

5 hours labour and you'll be back on the road.

might pay to replace the rear main bush at the same time if its the original one.

Gav

Not sure if I'll be able to do myself unless I get it towed to my parents. It's in the underground carpark where I live and I can't work on cars down there. Only option is to take it to the partents to work on it and I don't know if it will survive the 30km drive. Ford might be the only option, I might buy the Mal Woods cover and get them to install it instead of the OEM one and put a new bush in while they're there.

I drove for a fair while with my broken bolt, but mine snapped so far down that the bolt wouldn't come out passed the spare tyre well.

probably drove for 3 weeks with it broken?

Yeah, I can't get my bolt out either, maybe it will be alright if I don't do anything stupid. What about the loud clunking when I put it in reverese?

Only drive it if you want to Fk your CV's, Diff and possibly tailshaft, as only the 2 side bushes will be supporting the diff, nothing to stop it rocking back and forth with driveline torque.

I personally wouldnt drive it, and unless you have a hoist and an engine stand, along with the re-alignment tools, you'd be better off getting it done at a workshop.

Im pretty certain you cant do the job without removing the subframe...the only way to get the old bolt out otherwise is to drill a big hole in the spare wheel well yo get access to the bolt end, and then weld something to the remnants of the stripped / snapped bolt end.

but if the diff cover is stripped its all in vein, as it has to be dropped out anyways.