We already had our travel permit for the route from In-Amenas to Djanet. And we were just about to set off toward Djanet when we heard a loud “clunk” coming from the rear axle, followed by the sound of metal scraping. We knew right away that something was wrong. Upon inspection, we found that we were leaving an oil trail on the road. The oil was coming from a hole in the rear axle. That meant a serious problem and an equally serious repair—a job for Hans and Bert.
Since it was 40 degrees during the day, we decided to find a good spot to work, but to wait until evening before getting under the car. The first step was to remove the differential from the rear axle so we could assess the damage and determine how it had occurred. With a Land Rover, you can do that while the car remains standing on all four wheels. On the photo above, Hans and Bert are working by the light of a portable lamp.
After a few hours, we had the entire differential in our hands. And it was immediately clear what had happened. Every car has what’s called a differential in the rear axle. This allows the wheels to rotate at different speeds when turning a corner. The differential is mounted on the crown gear, which in turn is driven by the propeller shaft via the pinion gear.
On the Land Rover, the differential is secured to the crown gear with ten bolts. To prevent these bolts from coming loose, they are secured in pairs with a lock washer. However, on our Land Rover, this had not been done properly at the factory. As a result, most of the bolts had come loose and broken off. This can be seen in the photo above, indicated by the three red arrows. Our Land Rover, which came from Shell, hadn’t driven many miles yet, but now that it was being put to the test off-road, this manufacturing defect came to light.
The broken bolts had been forced out through the rear axle by the rotating crown wheel, which explained the hole in the rear axle and the oil leak. Steel fragments had also gotten into a roller bearing, which was now beyond repair. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too bad; it could have been much worse.
We decided to take everything apart completely and clean it with gasoline. And the next day, we planned to look for a new bearing, some bolts, and a way to have the rear axle welded shut.
The next day we set off; the car was still drivable thanks to the front-wheel drive. The town of In Amenas thrives on the oil industry. So a welder couldn’t be far away. We found one at Schlumberger, a well-known company in the oil services industry. They welded the axle shut and also put us in touch with a Touareg mechanic where we could get used spare parts. Luckily, he had what we were looking for.
Back at our “workbench,” we got to work. The new bearing had to be pressed onto the differential housing using a hydraulic jack, and the crown gear and pinion had to be adjusted with great precision. The latter can be seen in the photo above.
After about 12 hours, everything was installed and the Land Rover was roadworthy again. The real test came the very next day, when we took the track (piste) to Djanet. That road was impassable without a 4×4. But the differential never let us down again.