Urq Rear Diff Going Bad

[Marc_Nguyen@mail.amsinc.com]

Greetings all,

Took my car into my mechanic today to have him check a couple things out on
the urq.  Got a call this afternoon saying that the "humming" noise at the
rear of the car is not a wheel bearing, but is coming from the rear
differential.  He thinks that the rear differential needs to be "rebuilt".
I will get all the details this evening when I go pick up the car, but
thought I just put a preliminary feeler out there for any BTDTs.

Should I have my diff "rebuilt", which I assume means replacing bearings,
etc.?  What parts are replaced on a diff rebuild?  Any idea on cost?  This
is something I definitely can't handle at home, so what other options do I
have?  Would it be cheaper/better if I look for a used diff?  If I go this
route, would I have to find a diff off an urq or could I use one off a,
say, 4KQ?  I think Ned R. mentioned once that the 4KQ diff has different
ratios, but that might help turbo spool up...on the other hand, I might
have totally misunderstood him...

TIA

- Marc