Center Rear Brown Fluid Spill (2002) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Center Rear Brown Fluid Spill (2002)

Drummadude

Member
Joined
July 13, 2011
Messages
28
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City, State
Midwest
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Explorer XLT Blue
Fellow Explorers,

I'm not very knowledgeable about cars, but I'm guessing this is the transmission fluid? Or the differential? I just saw a brown puddle in my garage situated approximately between the rear wheels.

This vehicle has stained my driveway and garage with fluid drips but this looks more substantial.

Here is a picture:

2my822v.jpg


Thanks for your time. :exp:
 



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If it was between your rear wheels it's probably your rear diff. If that's coming from your tranny, you've got some big problems! :)

Rear diff fluid is 75w140 so it's pretty thick and if it hasn't been changed in a long time it will look really dark and sludgy, at least that's what mine looked like when I changed it a month ago.
 






Thanks - would this be considered a concern?
 






Well, for me, any fluid leak is a concern on any of my vehicles. How much of a concern is another matter. It's hard to tell the scale of that puddle in the picture, so I can't say for sure how much has leaked out. The capacity for a Gen 3 rear diff is around 1.6-1.75 liters I believe. And once it leaks, it means it will probably keep leaking.

The lower your fluid gets in your differential the more damage it can cause. At the very least you'll probably get some noises coming from back there.

I'm no expert on differentials, but I do know that if it is your rear diff, it will always be in use which means it's probably not something i'd recommend letting slide. If you don't feel comfortable checking into this yourself, I'd recommend you take it to a shop that can handle it for you.
 






Fellow Explorers,

I'm not very knowledgeable about cars, but I'm guessing this is the transmission fluid? Or the differential? I just saw a brown puddle in my garage situated approximately between the rear wheels.

This vehicle has stained my driveway and garage with fluid drips but this looks more substantial.

Thanks for your time. :exp:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From your picture and the graphics on my older computer, along with the area you found the oil drops, I agree with "JChristian79", rear diff leak. The drops look black in color on my PC screen, indicating some kind of a dirty oil leak and tranny fluid is red or redish in color and would leave drops more towards the middle of the front seat area of the vehicle. You should at least get it checked out for the source of the leak and make sure your rear diff is full of fluid, gear oil Synthetic 75W-140. If you can crawl under the back end of the truck, look for fresh oil drips on the bottom edge of the rear diff cover plate/seal or on the front side of the rear diff, where the drive shaft connects to the rear diff, look at the bottom edge for fresh oil drips. There is another seal there as well. That is where they tend to leak, at the front or rear diff seals.
 






Thanks for your analyses. I will have it checked out. :thumbsup:
 












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