Greetings:

I have a 1988 740 GLE Wagon with about 235,000 miles on it (very well maintained). However the rear-end seems as though it is possed! Could i replace the gears and all of the guts in the differential (yoke) rather thean dropping the whole axle out for another one? What would be the most feasible approach for one to take. How hard of a job is it to replace the guts in the differential? When i place it in gear it spits, coughs, and gags! A lot a banging and grinding. Might it be an issue with the u-joints? Please help all of your responses would be greatly appreciated, as i would like to get the car up and running before dec 2003.

best regards!

Dude, if your problem is truly inside the pumpkin, then it is much much much cheaper and EASIER to just replace the entire rear axle... I did it on my 88 740 after the oil shop ownder pushed the check plug into the diff and left it there... and got caught in the gears at 70mph...

The entire job from jacking to driving took 5 hours... excluding the time it took me to track down a rear end. I got mine at a junkyard for $35 +15 core.
Honestly, I had the old rear end out of the car in less than an hour and a half.

think about it. hope this helps.

Mike

I agree- I just replaced the rear axle in an 88 745 a month ago. No issues with removal and replacement- it goes in quite easily really. Jacked the car up under the rear jack points using HUGE blocks of wood, andit was stable. Used 2 floor jacks to move around control arms and the axle.
I did have a problem with a broken off lower torque arm bolt, that I had to drill and re-tap. I consider that kind of a freak thing and it might have been the junkyard's fault.

I did find out about ABS axle speedo sensors vs the regular kind. If your car does not have ABS (only some 88 Turbos would) then a regular axle will be what you want. We still have to correct that.... another story.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 221K, 88 744GLE- 202K, 91 244 181K, 88 244GL 145K

Hard to say what the issue is from your description.

Could be 'U' Joints.

If you jack the back of the car up and rotate the tires by hands is there any binding?

With car up in the air, roll under and rotate the drive shaft with the car in Neutral. You should be able to see 'Play' in the 'U' joints if that is your problem.

The Rear axle is a DANA30. pretty strong axle for a 4 cylinder car. Unless you have been running without gear oil, I would not suspect the rear axle first.

Sorry I couldn't be more informative
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me