Weird diff issue - help please!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 118
Likes: 12
From: Concord, NC
Weird diff issue - help please!
Hello all,
I have a weird issue going on...I have changed out my suspension (coilovers, bushings, etc) and had the A-Arms out of the rear of the car. Also replaced the hubs, rear seals, and half shafts. All this has been put back in and no issues with re-install. Tonight, as I was buttoning up the rear brakes, the driver side half shaft (hub/rotor) will not turn. I can hear it banging in the diff, but it won't spin. The passenger side spins...but the driver side does not. It was spinning before when I put it in, the hubs are new SKF and spun just fine. For whatever reason though the driver side half shaft bangs like it is in gear...it is NOT in gear, parking brake is NOT engaged (driver rear disc is off car). I can see the shaft spin minutely then it bangs on something like it is in gear, but the passenger side will spin with no obstruction.
I am at a total loss on this one, anyone have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions??
I have a weird issue going on...I have changed out my suspension (coilovers, bushings, etc) and had the A-Arms out of the rear of the car. Also replaced the hubs, rear seals, and half shafts. All this has been put back in and no issues with re-install. Tonight, as I was buttoning up the rear brakes, the driver side half shaft (hub/rotor) will not turn. I can hear it banging in the diff, but it won't spin. The passenger side spins...but the driver side does not. It was spinning before when I put it in, the hubs are new SKF and spun just fine. For whatever reason though the driver side half shaft bangs like it is in gear...it is NOT in gear, parking brake is NOT engaged (driver rear disc is off car). I can see the shaft spin minutely then it bangs on something like it is in gear, but the passenger side will spin with no obstruction.
I am at a total loss on this one, anyone have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 118
Likes: 12
From: Concord, NC
A little more information...I don't know diff's all that well so grasping at straws on this, but if it is helpful thought I'd add a few things. I changed the rear seals because they were leaking, I don't know how much gear oil leaked, but it made a bit of a mess on the rear so they needed to be replaced. A small amount of oil did drain out of the driver side seal when I pulled it out...I did not drain the diff, or open the fill plug when I pulled the seals. It did take a bit to get the old drive shaft out - kind of popped out, but no unusual wear on the diff end of the drive shaft. Diff was rebuilt by RPM in 2018 so there shouldn't be any issues there...it was working fine when car went on jacks last winter. I have not drained and refilled the diff at this point, is it possible that something is just "bound" and isn't releasing internally because it is low on fluid?
Appreciate any help.
Appreciate any help.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 118
Likes: 12
From: Concord, NC
No, embarrassingly enough...it was wholly related to the passenger rear rotor being too tight on the parking brake. What I thought was a bang/clunk in the diff like it was in gear, was actually the studs on the hub banging the slop out of the holes in the rotor (I was in a small closed garage and misread the source of the sound). The Parking brake was so tight it was too much to spin the axles from the driver side by just the hub.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 12,860
Likes: 4,661
No, embarrassingly enough...it was wholly related to the passenger rear rotor being too tight on the parking brake. What I thought was a bang/clunk in the diff like it was in gear, was actually the studs on the hub banging the slop out of the holes in the rotor (I was in a small closed garage and misread the source of the sound). The Parking brake was so tight it was too much to spin the axles from the driver side by just the hub.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.
I think the same applies to "oversights"!!! At least ya figured it out!!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 118
Likes: 12
From: Concord, NC
Don't be so hard on yourself! I screwed up a grinding job once at work. Stupid mistake. I told the old leadman in the grind department about it. Told him it was a stupid mistake!! He looked at me for a second, then said this "Mike, I've never seen a smart mistake, really"!!! I think the same applies to "oversights"!!! At least ya figured it out!!
I think the same applies to "oversights"!!! At least ya figured it out!!
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 12,412
Likes: 1,750
From: DFW TX
congratulations it was so simple! 
Last summer I chased a major electrical issue for like a week - like a dumbass I had failed to connect 1 of the 2 large + leads to the battery - car didn't act right without it, imagine that
Last summer I chased a major electrical issue for like a week - like a dumbass I had failed to connect 1 of the 2 large + leads to the battery - car didn't act right without it, imagine that
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No, embarrassingly enough...it was wholly related to the passenger rear rotor being too tight on the parking brake. What I thought was a bang/clunk in the diff like it was in gear, was actually the studs on the hub banging the slop out of the holes in the rotor (I was in a small closed garage and misread the source of the sound). The Parking brake was so tight it was too much to spin the axles from the driver side by just the hub.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.
It was a dumb oversight on my part. The rotor didn't feel THAT tight when I put it on the passenger side, but it was.