1982 differential leak
 

I found a trail of oil and finally a big puddle of gear oil under my differential after parking the car in the garage. Near as I can tell, all the seals are intact. I had driven the car for about 10 miles before I parked it in the garage. No strange noises coming from the diff. If not for seeing the trail of oil leading into the garage under the car I wouldn't have known anything happened. Ideas anyone?

Limited number of places for oil to be coming from- the side axle seals, pinion seal, and the rear cover. After that, the fill plug. If those are all good, then it's likely to get expensive. A hole in the case/cover. If it was overfilled, it might blow oil out the vent. Thinking about that, is the vent in place or missing?

Clean everything up, fill the diff with proper fluid then take it for a short ride. After that you should be able to see where it's coming from. Good luck :thumbs:

I know gear oil has that distinct stink... That said, are you sure its gear oil? I had a leaking trans that somehow migrated onto my rear diff area and dripped. I had it parked on a slight incline and that made it worse. My 82 has the seeping seals on the rear diff, not enough to drip but stays wet. I did the above; clean, fill, inspect to narrow it down. Saving for a rebuild on it now.

I'll be interested in hearing how this turns out. Gear oil is pretty thick and normally you will just find it seeping and you will only get a few drops after you park it. I'm having a hard time imagining a "trail" of gear oil. I'd think it would only be a spot every 20 ft or so for a pretty bad leak.

82 diff leak
 

Its gear oil. I know, I package gear oil where I work and know the smell. The side axle seals are dry. If it was coming from the pinion seal I would think everything in that area would be wet. All the oil was dripping from the heat shield that bolts to the bottom of the diff. I will take it apart soon (summer is coming). Guess I was just looking for an easy answer to this problem. Never fiddled in that area of the car and not looking forward to it.

kennycorvette
 

I took the spare tire, spring and heat shield away from the diff and filled it with ATF. It only took about a second to tell what was going on. The case is cracked on the bottom between the stub axles. Any ideas on what might cause this to happen? Now saving up for a new diff. Ideas on the cause would be appreciated. Thanks, Kennycorvette.