Here’s the crack, right where the diff meets the bracket or whatever that piece is I forget

 

Return the truck if you can. The seller likely knew this problem existed. The differential (and likely the axle shaft assembly) needs to be replaced.

 

Differential replacement is over $1300, thats what a new one will cost you.

 

I won’t be buying a brand new one, not quite worth it on an 04 Titan. I found a used front diff for about $500 shipped with low miles and a warranty, but it comes out of an 06 armada, from what I’ve read it seems the armada and Titan front diffs are interchangeable, (please correct me if I’m wrong) but I just wanna make sure that the 06 armada uses the updated design. I read that the design was updated around the end of 05 on the Titan so hopefully it should be the newer one.

 

Just a thought, but for me to consider not driving the truck back to where I bought it and demanding my money back( or just driving it through a wall to deliver it back), it would have to have been such a deal, like half of book trade in, to consider my time and money to fix. One problem on a poorly maintained vehicle is pure fiction. There are more...you just haven't found them yet.

 

I don’t feel the vehicle has been poorly maintained, just fell victim to a common problem many titans have. I will be talking to the dealer tho to try to get them to replace it, although I’m not holding my breath since it’s an 04 with 140K. But still worth a shot.

 

The '07 has the upgraded differential case I believe. Otherwise, the '07 Armada and Titan share the same differential. I would not use an '06 differential.

 

Completely breaking the differential housing was not a common issue. You had to try real hard or be a complete idiot to actually break the differential housing. The axle shaft coming out of the differential was a much more common problem, which the '07 differential corrected.

 

Hey guys, i just bought my 04 Titan 4wd yesterday and now I’m already having a front diff issue. I’ve been getting a grinding noise in the front diff that goes away in 4WD. I got under the truck and it looks like my front diff has a small crack where the diff meets the passenger side axle. I have heard lots of problems with the driver side axle popping out but never passenger. The passenger side axle doesn’t have any extra play, just about the same amount as the driver side, BUT the passenger side seems to be leaking a little bit of fluid. The crack on the diff doesn’t seem to extreme, it’s just where the bolts are that one corner is cracked. I’ll try to post a pic but not sure if it will work. Anyway I was wondering if anyone has had this problem or knows an easy solution? I would love to avoid replacing the full differential if possible because it’s gonna be like $400 and I literally just bought this truck like 2 days ago.
Any suggestions are very appreciated
Thank you

Just saw mine looks just like your pic an pinion seal is leaking. What did you end up doing with yours?

Here’s the crack, right where the diff meets the bracket or whatever that piece is I forget

Mine looks just like this. What did you end up doing?

 

Just saw mine looks just like your pic an pinion seal is leaking. What did you end up doing with yours?


Mine looks just like this. What did you end up doing?

Find an '07 front differential at a junk yard. Be sure it has the right gear ratio.

 

Mine never had a problem. The years prior to '07 are the ones that were more likely to have an issue.

 

Rather than drive it like that, drain the fluid and pull the cv axles. Leave the truck in 2wd, and the front axle won't turn. Keep driving and you will likely seize a bearing, and damage other front end parts, or potentially the transfer case. Or you could just get a bearing hot enough to start a fire and you'd be thoroughly screwed while your truck burns.

 

Hey, I have a 2012 Titan. I don't off road except for the beach and tow a 30 ft travel trailer. While changing the oil a a couple of months ago I noticed a Crack in the differential housing. Recently I noticed oil dripping and the under carriage was wet as well. After inspecting the underside the Crack was now worse. The housing was cracked in 3 places. I got a quote for 800 used (new was 3800) waiting for delivery from out of state. Total with install and other parts about 2000. Rather get it done than later before something else get damaged. If I can get another 10 years it'll be worth it.