Front Diff Carrier Leak (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 5, 2006
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Location
Redwood City, CA
Hello,
Months ago I did some front end work and everything was fine. However, now I have a leak with my front diff carrier. I used the paper gasket with rtv but I noticed a piece of the paper was sticking out and now I have a leak.

Does everyone use both gasket and rtv? If so, do you put the rtv on both metal surfaces so the paper is sandwiched? Do I even need to use the paper?


Thanks,

Chris
 
IMHO you defeat the purpose of a paper gasket when you use RTV with it. If the gasket is sealed with RTV it can't absorb oil and swell to fill voids.
 
... I used the paper gasket with rtv but I noticed a piece of the paper was sticking out and now I have a leak. ...

In my experience, most of the time this is from one or more nuts coming loose, allowing the diff housing to shift. I just use RTV, properly torque the nuts, drive a couple of hundred miles then recheck torque. Have never had a problem with this method.
 
RTV x3. Since the surfaces are glued together, much less likely to shift under load and develop leaks. My '94 currently has the paper flag sticking up on the front diff with corresponding leak, waiting to regear to fix it.
 
Anyone know if there is an adhesive in the factory gasket material or if the factory uses an adhesive of some sort with the gasket when the 3rd's are attached to the axle housings at the factory?
 
In my experience, most of the time this is from one or more nuts coming loose, allowing the diff housing to shift. I just use RTV, properly torque the nuts, drive a couple of hundred miles then recheck torque. Have never had a problem with this method.

This happened to me as well. I think 2-3 of the top nuts came loose.
 

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