TOY: RE: noises from rear axle

["Payne, Mike" <MPayne1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Looks like a bad pinion seal... and from my own experience I know that this
can preclude something like what happened to one of mine.  My guess on mine
was that the seal gave out and this lead to premature pinion bearing failure
and/or the crush sleeve crushing... as a result the ring gear could move
enough to hit the spider gear carrier thingy... 

I know very little about 3rds other than how they work in theory and the
basic mechanical operation... so, I can vouch for that happening after a
pinion seal failure but that may not be the reason it happened.

I do know, that getting your pinion seal replaced at a dealer is very cheap
*IF* you remove the 3rd yourself. Around $40 including parts.

I am not sure what might cause that squealing noise... but I do know that
diffs with low fluid can make some interesting howling noises.

Also, if you have changed the fluid for the third time now in a short time
span and you are still getting heavy metal shaving deposits, then something
bad is fixin to happen...

You could probably pick up a diff from a junker or someone on this list for
around $50 so it may be worth it... then you can swap and have the other
fixed assuming it is minor... and you will have a spare.

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Bobby Johnson [mailto:bobby@qbi.net] 
I noticed some oil leaking from the diff near the drive
shaft flange.