Front differential cover

[Fred Garvin]

How do you remove the front differential cover on a 98 Explorer Sport 4WD--there does not appear to be enough clearance from the cross support
HELP!!!

 

[Jenkins1581]

ITs true. You have to disasemble the front end to get the front pan off.

 

[fe97]

I read this post too late. I began removing the front differential cover from my 97 Explorer to change the fluid. After loosening bolts and draining the fluid, there was one bolt I could absolutely not remove. Now I'm stuck with an empty differential and no way to seal the gasket.

It appears that I'll need to take it into a shop to get it put back together again.

Question 1: Can you drive with a dry differential if you're only in 2WD?

Question 2: How much should I expect to pay a shop finish the job I began?

 

[JDraper]

DO NOT DRIVE IT WITH AN EMPTY DIFFERENTIAL!!! You will damage it, even in 2wd.

Instead of taking it to a shop, you might want to consider doing it yourself if you are somewhat mechanically inclined. It's not too hard to do. There are only 3 bolts that hold the axle to the frame. Remove those three bolts, and you might have enough room to get the job done. If not, popping the axle ends out is also pretty easy.

The attached pix of a removed front axle has the bolt locations circled. Check out http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80310 for more pix. This was for a Superlift install, but there are some pix that might help you out.