Check your diff fluid (1 Viewer)

[sjpitts]

So in what seems like ugly trend, I am here to confess my sins.

Memorial Day weekend I drove my 93 Land Cruiser to the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. A few hundred miles round trip. On the way there I was hearing some whining from the front of the vehicle. I have long suspected that there is a vacuum leak somewhere in my 80. So while I was up there I spent some time looking it over to see if I could find a leak. Couldn't find anything.

On the way back climbing out of Salt River Canyon I realized that whine really only occurred when accelerating-- when the engine was pushing the vehicle it was lounder, when coasting it was much quieter.

So this weekend I checked my u-joints. They looked fine as far as I could tell.

While laying under the car I stared at the front end and started to try and remember when I last checked/changed my diff fluids.

Long story short---this is the fluid that came out of my front diff--- slightly less than the 2.5 qts that were supposed to be there.

So I went and bought some generic 75-90 gear oil, added the new oil, drove it around for 25 miles, and then changed it again. The whine during acceleration was still there with new gear oil. I couldn’t tell a difference in the sound with it full of fluid. But to be honest, I am not 100 percent sure that the whine is coming from the diff.

But it seems likely that the diff would be at least a little damaged from running it so low of fluid. But how would I tell?

 

[NTH89]

Wow!! Any visible leaks from the diff or knuckles?

 

[sjpitts]

Wow!! Any visible leaks from the diff or knuckles?

Yeah, there was some oil dripping the back end of the third member-- where the u-joint attaches-- not sure what that is called. But I also have some oil leaks and a power steering leak.

And the knuckles are looking messy.

Things I should have noticed.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

It's a land cruiser, I think it will be fine.

 

[NTH89]

Yeah, there was some oil dripping the back end of the third member-- where the u-joint attaches-- not sure what that is called. But I also have some oil leaks and a power steering leak.

And the knuckles are looking messy.

Things I should have noticed.

Where u joint attaches to third member- your pinion seal is done. I replaced mine few weeks ago. Not too bad a DIY.

 

[sjpitts]

It's a land cruiser, I think it will be fine.

I like this power of positive thinking approach. We will see if it works out that way.

Jared

 

[Malleus]

I have a rear pinion seal on one of mine that's been leaking for about 2 years now. My plan is to replace it when it stops leaking.

 

[NTH89]

I have a rear pinion seal on one of mine that's been leaking for about 2 years now. My plan is to replace it when it stops leaking.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I have a rear pinion seal on one of mine that's been leaking for about 2 years now. My plan is to replace it when it stops leaking.

Why wait to fix it, its such an easy repair. Just pull the plug and add more fluid

 

[sjpitts]

So to tell the rest of the story.

I managed to score a new third member on one of the blackfriday sales. Still a lot of money, and it took two months to arrive, but the good news is that it also comes with a new locker actuator.

In the meantime, I minimized the amount the time I was driving it around. It was still whining even after replacing the fluid twice. And after being filled up with gear oil there was a definite leak from the rear pinion seal. So apparently that was the source of the problem. Or at least a major part of the problem.
My son reminded me that once towing a trailer a year or so ago we had a bunch of oil on the front of the trailer, and we did not know where it came from,a nd and I wonder if that was went it went bad.

 

[sjpitts]

Then had the new third member installed at Higgys last week. The gears on the old third member had sure signs of heat damage-- you can see the discoloration on the tips of the pinion gear.

 

[sjpitts]

So I am starting to wonder what led to the failure of the pinion seal.

I only have 192k miles on my 80, with 82k since I bought it.

And I recall someone saying that it is possible to overfill the drive shaft with grease-- leading to the drive shaft not being able to compress. And in the 20 years I have owned my 80 who knows how many times I have added a squirt or two of grease to the driveshaft. Is it possible that I have overfilled the drive shaft and this is the cause of the pinion leak?

Which led to the death of my third member?

Or am I just nuts?

Jared

 

[Rusty Marlin]

So I am starting to wonder what led to the failure of the pinion seal.

I only have 192k miles on my 80, with 82k since I bought it.

And I recall someone saying that it is possible to overfill the drive shaft with grease-- leading to the drive shaft not being able to compress. And in the 20 years I have owned my 80 who knows how many times I have added a squirt or two of grease to the driveshaft. Is it possible that I have overfilled the drive shaft and this is the cause of the pinion leak?

Which led to the death of my third member?

Or am I just nuts?

Jared

No, there is no load bearing capability to the seal, it's just a radial seal.
It's possible to damage the transfer case bearing seats however.

 

[Malleus]

Age is probably the root cause.