rear diff drip

[heathmo]

Ok, so just noticed that there's some small oil spots where I park my Explorer right below where the rear diff sits. I have had mine open twice and I never saw any leaks until now. Even all through the winter, no spots in the snow. I'm thinking maybe I just need to retorque the bolts to spec. I used RTV to make the gasket. I also noticed while I was under there that my vent tube for the rear axle had sheared off and melted a bit where it was sitting. It was laying on the brake line. Maybe wondering if this had anything to do with my leak issue. I check it last night and there was a little gear oil sitting towards the bottom of the diff, went out this morning and checked it and there was just a slight spot on the ground. Same as this afternoon after I moved it, just a very small spot on the ground.

Any ideas are appreciated, I don't really want to have to open it up and drain and reseal it, but I will if I have to. Gear Oil is just really expensive stuff.

 

[heathmo]

Ok, so it lost about a 1/2 bottle worth of gear oil. I filled it up and I think the bottom of the cover is leaking, probably because I got in too much of a hurry and didn't let the RTV cure or because I didn't clean the mating surfaces well enough. Does that seem right? Am I gonna have to drain and refill it?

 

[Maniak]

If the cover didn't seal then yes.. you will be dropping the cover. I've never managed to "fix" a leak from the outside.

Also, is there still a vent hose connected? You want one so the diff can breath. If you broke it off "flush" with the axle you will get lots of dirt/water etc into it. I'd even look at extending that breather hose some since you drive in snow/slush etc.

~Mark

 

[heathmo]

Yeah, it broke off flush. I put the hose that was there back on, it's actually pretty long. And I just ran it up as high as I could. I suppose when I run out of this bottle or come across enough extra cash again I'll go ahead and drain and refill. For right now I'll just keep an eye on it and add more as needed.

 

[Four0Sport]

ive never had luck with using RTV in place of a gasket.. I've always used a paper gasket and either shellack or tack and seal. works great. im afraid to take my diff cover off my 93, it has so much shellack on it im not sure if ill be able to seperate it from the rear end! hopefully it doesnt rust through any time soon lol

 

[Maniak]

We use "right stuff". Its RTV type stuff that comes in a cheesewiz looking can. Let it setup a couple minutes and install. It works really well.. Thats about the only RTV type stuff I use.

~Mark