"poop" in front differential (1 Viewer)

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Pit,

Good point - won't hurt anything to see if he can clear it out with several changeouts. Doug would be well advised to also spend 30 minutes removing the front diff vent tube and replacing it with a 3 foot piece of 1/4 inch fuel line up into the engine bay. Would stop the huge pressure differentials that occur with that thing. See other posts on the front diff vent for clarification.

Also Doug, you should bring your registration (has your VIN on it) into both dealers and politely ask if they'd provide you with a paper copy of what's been done at their store. If you give them the indication you want to take it home with you and develop a maintenance plan to be done at the dealership it might go easier. Also, don't try this on a Monday or a Friday, or at 8 am on any day. These are peak times for the Service Dept and going when things are slow would be key. Walking in the door with a cup of coffee from one of your Seattle brewers for the lucky service writer might be a good call, as well.

Doug
 
Mr Bull,

I was pulling yer leg a bit there. I was infering (tongue in cheek) that you were taking a shot at little old me. As I have been in the new car dealer business for 25 years (19 with Toyota), I do agree with you that "the dealer" may not always know best.......... ;) (except me :flipoff2: )
 
[quote author=cruiserdan link=board=2;threadid=7059;start=msg59155#msg59155 date=1068014239]
Mr Bull,

I was pulling yer leg a bit there. I was infering (tongue in cheek) that you were taking a shot at little old me. As I have been in the new car dealer business for 25 years (19 with Toyota), I do agree with you that "the dealer" may not always know best.......... ;) (except me :flipoff2: )
[/quote]

No Bull, I wasn't shooting at you :) . I know some dealers have it together. Just don't like not talking to the guy that does the work. Plus the lack of experience with LC's that I have found. The normal owner is hard on them also. Take them to Jiffy lube and nothing gets lubed. But I talked with a lady that had a 91 with 200K+ miles and all they ever did with the LC was have the oil and filter changed at Jiffy lube and a tune - a couple of times, at the Toyota dealership. Never had the fluids changed in the driveline or the wheel bearing repacked or birfields done. These are tough vehicles.
 
OK, I'm listening to all the info here, and am intrigued by the possibility that I could postpone this project until it's warmer, or at least until I have a little less work stuff pressing. I received the parts from Dan today, so it's a time thing only.

If I clean out the front diff (refill,drive, drain, repeat) how will I know if this solves the problem or not?

Doug - great suggestion on getting the service records. My wife, who's waaaaay better at sweet-talking than I am is going to do this. Should be good.

Thanks all!
 
My brother lives in Seattle. You should offer him :beer:. He has a 60 and wants an 80...may be a good opportunity to recruit help and get him hooked on an 80 8)
 
good news and bad news

The good news is that I was able to thoroughly clean and rebuild the front axle. Green goop was everwhere except the wheel bearings. Gear oil + knuckle grease = gross goop! Cleaning it all out was really time consuming.

Now for the bad news...since it gets dark early now, I was cleaning the axle with less than optimal light (no garage). I was using a broomstick to push a rag down the axle tube to clean out the goop, and I disloged a part, which I suppose you could call an axle locator. This part is located about 1.5 - 2.0" inboard of the axle seal. It's a press fit into a shallow seat. If you disloge the one on the long side, you cannot put the birf back in w/out totally munging up the axle seal. Trust me on this. I was able to replace this "axle locator" by fabbing a press out of 3/4" all-thread, but it took quite a few tries before I got it seated tight enough to stay in place while I installed the birf. If the axle locator comes off of it's seat while you are installing the birf, then you have to remove the diff in order to reinstall the axle locator. I think I had the diff off three times...

It's just time and aggravation - it's not like I'm getting shot at in Iraq so I'm not complaining. I do have a question though...despite working on the diff for 2 hours, it never got really clean of the green goop. I got maybe 90% of it off, but not all of it. I assume that I should just drain and refill the diff a couple of times. Does this make sense? Any suggestions on how many miles before a change?

I have all the parts to do the same job on my fj60, which does not have an axle seal leak, but makes a bunch of wierd noises. Given how long and hard the job was on my wife's fzj80, I'm kinda looking forward to doing it on my 60! Truely a cruiser addition.

Thanks to all for the kind advice and help. (And to C-Dan for the great service and prices!)
 
Doug,

>> I assume that I should just drain and refill the diff a couple of times. <<

Yes, but I wouldn't worry too much about it and you don't have to shorten the change interval except maybe the first one just for peace of mind. Maybe use some cheap dino gear oil for the first change and watch for anything out of the ordinary.

It's good to hear that you got it before any big problems.
-B-
 
Wow, you really had a problem with that inner axle bracket and found a way to fix it. I believe it's actually tack welded in place though, so I'm hoping it's not going to vibrate loose in there..... Talk to Christo at Slee and tell him what happened and what you did if you want to get some input from someone who's dealt with that part. He's the only other person I've heard have trouble with it.

As for changeouts, Beo's strategy is exactly what I did. Several changeouts with cheap dino, then in with the Mobil 1.

Doug
 
I'm sorry...I can't help it...I have wanted to say this since this thread started...


It is not recommended to poop in your differential.


*whew*

I feel better now.
 
Hey Dan,

I was really waiting for that from some of you guys :D

It had to be said :cheers:

Mike
 

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