Hiace 97 weird noise from the rear after driving

OK, heres a small description from a problem that has occurred with my Hiace 97

After driving a little while, when you turn the wheels to left or right and start going to a small up hill some weird sound comes from the rear axels. Like one of the wheels is slipping or something? I did some googling and could it be related to the differential? I dont know if oils have ever been replaced from the differential. I actually hope that the whole part is not busted since its quite expensive repair.

Has anyone had any similar problems? How can you check if the differential is bad? Could it be some other part?

Thanks already beforehand
Jus4

I would check by jacking it up under the axle and rotating the rear wheels.
It may also be worth checking and perhaps changing the diff oil, the diffs are pretty tough but that's where I'd be looking.

It could also be a rear wheel bearing, sound travels around solids so check the feel of the bearings very carefully.
Don't forget to also check tyres!

Changed the diff oils at the dealers because really didn't have time to do it my self.
They said that the old oils looked like milk cream but there was the right amount oil in the diff.

Feel little bit bad that I didn't change them earlier, just hope that the diff didn't take too much damage with bad oils inside. Actually the whole car feels nicer to drive now and with a small test didn't hear the same noises as before.

Thanks again for the reply!!

Result!!

Did the same on my BMW (with an LSD clutch) and it was quieter after so I did the van by default as the EP stuff eventually gets exhausted.

Remember that's also the lube for your rear wheel bearings, no idea why it should have been milky, best check next year to be sure!

A suggestion for the milkiness - if the vehicle has been driven through deep water the hot diff can suck in cold water which becomes emulsified with the oil. Some, if not all, diffs have a breather tube which allows ingress.