Resealing the front differential to the axle housing w/out removing axle shafts ….. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Sacred80
- Start date
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Can you point where specifically in this photo you are seeing broken metal?
I also don't see any broken metal, looks like some old gasket that's lifted up but also a large section of old gasket is missing.
IMO you will not get the mating surfaces clean enough to allow the sealant to stick to the metal as gear oil will be leaking out as you try to stuff sealant in. You also risk getting too much sealant inside the diff housing by trying to squeeze it into that wide gap, so the short answer is bite the bullet and pull everything apart and do it right.
Or if you absolutely have to get it back on the road now and because the gasket is missing/disturbed you have to seal around each stud (not just the gap between the diff and axle housing) and to do that you have to remove the nuts and washers first, but you can't remove all the nuts at the same time.
So you can remove half the nuts while keeping the other half torqued down to hold the diff carrier tightly to the axle housing
while you seal things up, replace the missing nuts, then go back, remove the nuts you left in, clean the studs, then seal those up, reinstall the second
group of nuts.
I did this to maybe 1/3 of the nuts/studs on my front diff once a few years back but my diff carrier was not pulled away from the axle housing and the leak was just a small missing piece of gasket at the top of the front diff (so I didn't have gear oil constantly leaking out) and it worked. But yours is way worse than what I was dealing with so IDK if it would work for very long, consider it a temp/emergency fix if you go that route.
Note that I put sealant around the base of the stud (where the broken gasket was) let that cure a bit, then reinstall and torque down the nut:
So that's a lot of fiddling and will leave a terrible mess that you would have to clean up later when you eventually go back to do it right. IMHO at this point seeing the gasket is partially missing at the lower aspect of the diff you really should take the axle completely apart, ie: hubs, rotors, spindles, CV joints, axle shafts, remove the front driveshaft then pull the diff and clean everything up (90% of the work) and put it all back together with new seals, etc,etc.
That's my (long) two cents, others might have some other thoughts on how to proceed.
If you haven't done it before, here's a link to what the forum tends to refer to as a "Front Axle Service" video. There are more videos on You Tubes if you do a search:
IMO you will not get the mating surfaces clean enough to allow the sealant to stick to the metal as gear oil will be leaking out as you try to stuff sealant in. You also risk getting too much sealant inside the diff housing by trying to squeeze it into that wide gap, so the short answer is bite the bullet and pull everything apart and do it right.
Or if you absolutely have to get it back on the road now and because the gasket is missing/disturbed you have to seal around each stud (not just the gap between the diff and axle housing) and to do that you have to remove the nuts and washers first, but you can't remove all the nuts at the same time.
So you can remove half the nuts while keeping the other half torqued down to hold the diff carrier tightly to the axle housing
while you seal things up, replace the missing nuts, then go back, remove the nuts you left in, clean the studs, then seal those up, reinstall the second
group of nuts.
I did this to maybe 1/3 of the nuts/studs on my front diff once a few years back but my diff carrier was not pulled away from the axle housing and the leak was just a small missing piece of gasket at the top of the front diff (so I didn't have gear oil constantly leaking out) and it worked. But yours is way worse than what I was dealing with so IDK if it would work for very long, consider it a temp/emergency fix if you go that route.
Note that I put sealant around the base of the stud (where the broken gasket was) let that cure a bit, then reinstall and torque down the nut:
So that's a lot of fiddling and will leave a terrible mess that you would have to clean up later when you eventually go back to do it right. IMHO at this point seeing the gasket is partially missing at the lower aspect of the diff you really should take the axle completely apart, ie: hubs, rotors, spindles, CV joints, axle shafts, remove the front driveshaft then pull the diff and clean everything up (90% of the work) and put it all back together with new seals, etc,etc.
That's my (long) two cents, others might have some other thoughts on how to proceed.
If you haven't done it before, here's a link to what the forum tends to refer to as a "Front Axle Service" video. There are more videos on You Tubes if you do a search:
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Outsane
Supporting Vendor
Looks like a part of the carrier fom here..
Is it loose?
Is it loose?
We should be looking at the base of the bearing carrier from your camera angle. It has a few odd shapes and angles and looks consistent with your photo?
Photo taken from this listing, has a couple more good photos if you want to get an overview - or if you do need a replacement 3rd member
Regarding the sealing action itself, I tend to agree with @Kernal. If it was me I wouldn't spend a lot of time on this as it's unlikely going to last. Better invest that time into the proper axle rebuild.
If I'd need to get through a few weeks, close the gap to like 1mm or so and then put some sealant in, let it cure a bit, then tighten up the nuts.
It would also have been beneficial to clean the outside of the the diff at least somewhat before opening it up.
Photo taken from this listing, has a couple more good photos if you want to get an overview - or if you do need a replacement 3rd member
Regarding the sealing action itself, I tend to agree with @Kernal. If it was me I wouldn't spend a lot of time on this as it's unlikely going to last. Better invest that time into the proper axle rebuild.
If I'd need to get through a few weeks, close the gap to like 1mm or so and then put some sealant in, let it cure a bit, then tighten up the nuts.
It would also have been beneficial to clean the outside of the the diff at least somewhat before opening it up.
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
It's fine
- Thread starter
- #8
Yes. That.
well, at least you'll be good at scraping when you have to do it again in a few weeks.
Pull the shafts and do it right. You won't be sorry!
Pull the shafts and do it right. You won't be sorry!
Exactly, pulling the shafts is easy. Just make sure you have enough room to slide it out.
- Thread starter
- #11
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Probably a good idea to smooth it out.
Good Luck. I would also check the diff breather check valve. From the looks of the amount of oil on the diff. You might be puking oil past the pinion seal. Unless the seal failed.
Edit, realized it’s the front diff. Probably from a engine oil leak.
- Thread starter
- #14
Yes. It’s holding the diff oil.
I used a caulk gun and squirted it into the quarter inch gap as far around as I could. Then I was using my hand to push it in along the top. Then I let it sit for about 5 minutes or so then slowly tightened up the diff.
It worked!
Glad it got fixed it for now. Do you plan on going back later and fixing it by the book so to speak?
One concern is if too much sealant got squished inward it may eventually break off inside the diff, but then again that might get chewed up fairly quick
and no small ports to clog up.
One concern is if too much sealant got squished inward it may eventually break off inside the diff, but then again that might get chewed up fairly quick
and no small ports to clog up.
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- Thread starter
- #16
I figured I would drive it around town and off road for a few weeks and give it a chance to chew up any excess rtv floating around in there then drain the diff and refill.
