05 TD6 front end locked

[aaron_2000]

Bought a winter shed a couple of months ago that so far I've been very happy with, it's a green on green/cream 05 facelift TD6 with a very low 224k on the clock. I noticed a whining at the front end when I bought it but chose to turn the radio up an ignore it, then when I was driving down the motorway the other day I noticed it got worse, followed by a slight juddering followed by a big bang and the car violently juddering and grinding to a halt on the hard shoulder. It wouldn't drive forwards, wouldn't reverse back and wouldn't roll in N. Only when being recovered did I realise the rear wheels still spun but the fronts were locked up. The gearbox is still operating as it should which makes me suspect either the transfer box or the front diff, but the transfer box still changes range as it should which I'd imagine it wouldn't had it gone bang and immobilised the car? The whining was speed dependant not RPM dependant, it was the exact same sort of whine I got from my recently deceased Impreza's diff, so would I be right in assuming it's the diff and not the transfer case?

[aaron_2000]

Any help would be appreciated

[camel_landy]

The simple test is to jack up the front end and see if the wheels will rotate in opposite directions.

If they won't or won't rotate smoothly, then the front diff and/or bearings are your problem.

M

[drmike37]

Isn’t that what happens when a front diff lets go?

[aaron_2000]

camel_landy said:

The simple test is to jack up the front end and see if the wheels will rotate in opposite directions.

If they won't or won't rotate smoothly, then the front diff and/or bearings are your problem.

M

Wheels refuse to rotate so I guess the diff is the culprit. Cheers