Differential leaking (not the usual)
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
From: Charleston WV
Differential leaking (not the usual)
Hey guys. I recently had to rearend out for a clutch swap. While it was out I went ahead and did the ZO6 guts upgrade. New axle seals and GM red gasket maker on the side covers. It is leaking BAD. Bad enough that on a 40 mile trip the rear facia is now coated in an oily film :-/ .. I went under it and cleaned everything up so I could trace the leak. Just went on a 2 mile drive and pulled into garage.
The fluid is on passanger side on the front of the "hogs head".. nowhere near the axles or covers. Almost appears to be flowing down from the top. How bad of a move was it to not replace the diff to tranny O ring? I don't think there is a vent or anything it could be coming from... advice before I drop the rear again? Its a HUGE job and I am NOT looking forward to it :-(
The fluid is on passanger side on the front of the "hogs head".. nowhere near the axles or covers. Almost appears to be flowing down from the top. How bad of a move was it to not replace the diff to tranny O ring? I don't think there is a vent or anything it could be coming from... advice before I drop the rear again? Its a HUGE job and I am NOT looking forward to it :-(
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
From: Charleston WV
I tried my best to snap a pic.. hard to hold a light and my phone lol.. The fluid in on the case facing the front of the car on the passanger and side and as best I can tell runs up to the top of the case.. The bolt holding the diff to the tranny is wet and even the wire conduit on top of the diff is wet.. the side cover on the passanger side is bone dry..
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,393
Likes: 17
From: Belleville Mich.
My guess (hopefully) is that you over filled the fluid in the differential.
Pull the fill plug.
Slide your little finger into the fill hole to see where your fluid level is at.
If it's too high, back out the drain plug until it Drips.
(or use a suction device in the fill hole to drain some fluid out)
Once the fluid is down about a half inch from the bottom of the the fill hole, tighten every thing back up, take it for a drive with some twisties sprinkled in & see if it helped.
Pull the fill plug.
Slide your little finger into the fill hole to see where your fluid level is at.
If it's too high, back out the drain plug until it Drips.
(or use a suction device in the fill hole to drain some fluid out)
Once the fluid is down about a half inch from the bottom of the the fill hole, tighten every thing back up, take it for a drive with some twisties sprinkled in & see if it helped.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Is it 90 weight or is it ATF?
If its ATF, Put the car on a lift or jack stands perfectly level and do the simple check to see if its over filled. Pop out the fill plug and see if it runs out of the fill hole.
Use a mirror and flash light and look up on top of the trans and see if the vent hose is oiled /wet.
That may prove out and save you hours and hours of work.
BC
If its ATF, Put the car on a lift or jack stands perfectly level and do the simple check to see if its over filled. Pop out the fill plug and see if it runs out of the fill hole.
Use a mirror and flash light and look up on top of the trans and see if the vent hose is oiled /wet.
That may prove out and save you hours and hours of work.
BC
Racer
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 325
Likes: 0
As said, if you didn't fill the differential when it was level, then you could have overfilled.
Since the fill is on the back side of the diff, if you had the car's rear higher than the front (easy to do) you could overfill and then when you set it back down, your fill plug would prevent the overfill from exiting the diff.
Since the fill is on the back side of the diff, if you had the car's rear higher than the front (easy to do) you could overfill and then when you set it back down, your fill plug would prevent the overfill from exiting the diff.
