diff leaking oil and something whinning!

[whooshbang]

Hello everyone. I have recently bit the bullet and purchased a 51 plate 330 lwb with the intention of converting it for the summer. Upon driving the beast i noticed a whinning or whistling from what appears to be coming from the rear. She has done 136k so no surprises. When i inspected the rear axle i noticed a lot of oil around the differential.
I was wondering how easy it would be to drain the diff and replace the gasket? Is it simply a case of removing the bolts on the diff plate or does the whole axle have to come off?
I am thinking the whinning is coming from the diff area and hoping a fresh top up with a decent oil may partially cure the whine.
I have no manual for this yet so any help is much appreciated.

Many thanks from a newbee to mk6 transits and this forum.

Whoosh

[cdl123]

hi im sure that ford dont use a gasket they use silicon, so just remove the bolts drain let the oil drain out, clean up both the diff and diff pan and reseal, make sure you use the correct oil when you fill it back up

[madmark]

yep just drain it out by putting some sort of container underneath and undo all the bolts and the oil will come out, myself i put sylicon on nearly all my gaskets! ,are you shure its not wheel bearings

[bortaf]

Bought a new gasket for mine on ebay for £3
as stated check it aint bearings, mine was whining for about 30,000 miles before the diff bearing went last week

[whooshbang]

Thank you all for your replies.

I had been suspicious of the wheel bearing due to the fact that when i knock it into neutral and coast along, the noise can still be heard right up until i come to a complete stop.
Could the Diff still be noisey even when no gear is engaged, or could the Diff bearing be noisey in this situation?

Now i know the diff is not gonna be too much of a headache, i will start with that for my first elimination. besides, who really likes a leaky diff anyway? Failing that, its straight to Ford for a wheel bearing kit.

Once again, thanks for your replies and any more info would be much appreciated.

Whoosh