I'm trying to figger out how hard this is. I have had a fluid leak with most of the gunk around the front (not the sides). The rear seal is straightforward, but I haven't lifted the car. Anyone know how difficult or easy it is? Thanks, Mike

 

What color is the fluid? Reddish and it's tranny fluid. Clearish and it's diff. Getting to either one of them is not difficult but a piece of work for sure. Check out the few pages linked below of a drivetrain we pulled to replace the diff. You can get the diff out without pulling the whole drivetrain. The tranny as well but it's not a fun job.

http://redshift.homestead.com/Drivetrain1.html

 

Well, here's the deal on that one. In the 2+ years and some 20K miles I've put on this car, which has been driven, but always garaged when I came home, I have *never* had a drip/drop of fluid on the floor. When you have the tires changed at Discount, they don't lift the car way up, so when I do my "quicklooksee" I check brake pads, rotors and leaks in the wheel well area. None of that.

I was "going under" the car after an oil change when I noticed gunk on the rear crossmember. This gunk is a fine coating from the lower portion of the rear cover, under the crossmember, on the tranverse leaf spring, up to the front part of the rear diff. When I pulled the fluid inspection point, there was a slight vacum and very low fluid. Very low fluid, I can't see or feel anything in there.

I believe that this has been a very slight leak for a very long time, it could have started before I bought the car for all I know.

Your image DT6 on your first page is a good representation of the coverage of the gunk. That's why I am sure it's the rear diff. Because of the coverage, I want to get at the front seal at the same time.

All I want to do is repair the front seal, and I'm not really prepared to drop the whole shebang to do that. I'll continue to look at your website, it's very informative. Thanks!

 

If you want to replace the o-ring that mates the diff to the tranny you will have to pull the diff off or at least back some meaning you will have to drop the crossmember. When you do replace it, place a bead of sealer around the o-ring for extra protection. I use Copper.

You can see the o-ring on page 4 of my how to that I composed using various ones here on the forum to do the job.

 

Cajundude,, great website on diff. removal and photos. Really appreciate your time to document. Thanks 99 Nassau Blue

vettdvr

 

Sho thing. Thanks! I'll have a complete exhaust R&R up in the next couple of days. Just finished last night. LS1 How to definitely hooked me up for the LTs but I did change around a little how I saw fit.

 

yep; and the diff fluid may actually have a greenish tint to it. The fluid itself is clear, but the Getrag break-in grease is green. It all mixes together and the result is a slight green tint.

I place a dot of the fluid on a white piece of paper. As it wicks into the paper, the tinted color becomes easier to identify.

 

Geezus, here goes my lightweight wheel and r-compound tire fund.

The diff has to come out and I'm replacing all the seals.

Cajundude, can you provide a link to a distribtor to the DTE brace? I may as well think about putting that in if I'm going to ever race this one again.

Once again, you site is a great resource.

Thanks to everyone who posted, I will update y'all when I git'erdun

Michael

 

Be careful when you put the diff back in with the output shaft seals. They can pull out a little causing a leak. If however you do goof those up, they can be easily replaced with the diff in the car. For the brace just call up Phil at Dyno-Tech Engineering .

 

I could not help but notice cajundude,, where are you from.. I had crawfish two weeks ago, and boiled shrimp cajun style last week.

Way down in the bayou.. 99 Nassau Blue,, aka,, vettdvr

I live 8 minutes from the water and the shrimp boats in south La.

 

I'm from New Orleans, went to college in Lafayette and now live in Kemah, Texas about a minute and 30 secs. from shrimp boats.