Rear differential leaks at actuator

[TheComedian]

Hi guys, I noticed today that my rear differential leaks at the actuator. Is there also oil in the housing?
I have a few weeks ago tried to dismantle the whole thing because the rear differential lock makes problems but have the whole thing then canceled because I would have to cut off the fender because the upper screw is almost round and you can not get with a nut to this.
Can it be that the small housing must also be sealed?

 

[bloc]

The whole thing is filled with oil up to the level of the fill plug on the back of the housing. So yes everything there needs to be sealed.

 

[TheComedian]

The whole thing is filled with oil up to the level of the fill plug on the back of the housing. So yes everything there needs to be sealed.

So the rod by it self is sealed to the actuator?!
Ok, looks like I have to grind off the fender…. to remove the actuator.

 

[bloc]

So the rod by it self is sealed to the actuator?!
Ok, looks like I have to grind off the fender…. to remove the actuator.

I don’t think you’ll be able to fix the leak without removing the actuator. So yeah I guess you need to do whatever necessary to do that.

 

[Sandroad]

As I look closely at the area just above the 2 oil covered bolts, is there a possible crack that is the source of the leak? Probably just a line of dirt, but it might be worth cleaning that area up and examining carefully.

 

[bentonrover]

Curious on the condition of your diff breather? Usually happens when too much pressure builds up.

 

[TheComedian]

So, I checked this yesterday. Just the sealant was broken so the oil could leak out. I removed the whole actuator (and see its on rusted peace if metal…. I think wouldn’t use the diff lock in the next time), cleaned, sealed and changed the diff oil (and oil was rly dead).
Oh and its possible to remove the actuator without lock the diff.

Now to the new problems… the light for the rear diff lock is flashing now and the car feels like it’s activated and also low gear is engaged. I was just driving a few meters backwarts but it felt like s*** and placed the car back bevor my diff is exploding o something since driving a locked diff on concrete isn’t the best….
Any ideas?

 

[linuxgod]

So, I checked this yesterday. Just the sealant was broken so the oil could leak out. I removed the whole actuator (and see its on rusted peace if metal…. I think wouldn’t use the diff lock in the next time), cleaned, sealed and changed the diff oil (and oil was rly dead).
Oh and its possible to remove the actuator without lock the diff.

Now to the new problems… the light for the rear diff lock is flashing now and the car feels like it’s activated and also low gear is engaged. I was just driving a few meters backwarts but it felt like s*** and placed the car back bevor my diff is exploding o something since driving a locked diff on concrete isn’t the best….
Any ideas?

We don't get this diff lock option in the US so you'll probably get limited specific info from 95% of the people in this forum. There are some non-US folks though so hopefully one of them will respond.

This is what I see in the FSM for non-US spec cruisers on how to reinstall the actuator. I'm thinking when you reinstalled the actuator it moved the shift fork (or it was realigned incorrectly) and that engaged the rear locker. If it's misaligned instead of on/off your diff lock button might be "on" and "really on".

 

[TheComedian]

We don't get this diff lock option in the US so you'll probably get limited specific info from 95% of the people in this forum. There are some non-US folks though so hopefully one of them will respond.

This is what I see in the FSM for non-US spec cruisers on how to reinstall the actuator. I'm thinking when you reinstalled the actuator it moved the shift fork (or it was realigned incorrectly) and that engaged the rear locker. If it's misaligned instead of on/off your diff lock button might be "on" and "really on".

View attachment 2799270
View attachment 2799268

Ty for this informations. That’s exactly my diff. I already figured out how to remove all this stuff.
At the end the problem solved itself over night…. In the next morning the car was shortly beeping a bit and them everything was free. It looks like i damaged the wiring of the sensor (so its flashing now in the dash) but everything else works fine. Maybe I just remove the whole case an and tinker me some two-way Bowden cable purely to operate the dif….

 

[TheComedian]

Ps.: but it looks like I ****et up the cable of the sensor… so the rear diff lamp is flashing. And sadly it looks like I have to fix this because the Low gear didn’t engage anymore and this is maybe coming from the flashing diff light

 

[TheComedian]

Update:
I need advice.... after I thought "ok the sensor from the diff is gone because the cable may be broken" I cut the cable and connected it together.
Well... now the light for the rear diff is still flashing but a new light has been added and it is now ABS. And I still do not get Low activated.
Does anyone have any ideas about this?