Thursday, November 6, 2014

Back into the Rear Diff

Fun stuff... fun stuff.

So the Bronco has been great since the rear-end "rebuild" (brakes, bearings, seals, etc) and I'd been driving it all over the place.  So I get to my destination yesterday and when I come back outside there is a pool of rear diff fluid.

My initial thought was somehow the RTV seal failed but closer inspection revealed a hole in the rear diff cover.  It looks like from the inside out but clearly not catastrophic as the vehicle drives great.

The current theory is maybe a tooth on a gear broke.  It could be part of a broken bearing, a piece of dried mud with a rock / other debris, etc but I won't really know until I crack the case open and really look.

If it is a gear tooth you could run like that but for off roading it means less power to the rear which might cause some issues.

I'll know more once I crack it open and look.  The good thing was there was plenty of diff fluid still leaking when I got the Bronco home so minimal risk of any additional damage.

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