A-ha!!

['99 EB Explorer]

Well, boys and girls, I think I've figured out where the howling is coming from in the rear of my truck!!

Pulled the diff cover off(which has obviously been bounced off a few rocks) and the goop that came oozing out had the consistency of pudding! Not to mention the grey/brown color.

I've snapped a couple pix, but I'll take more later and post them up. I'm just inside warming up while the goop runs out of the diff.

Next is: 1) Fuel filter 2)Figuring out what's causing the truck to almost die when the RPM's come down after initial startup.


OH! btw...is brake cleaner safe to use to clean out the diff??

 

[satan]

Brake cleaner is fine -- ensure that you do let it all evaporate...

Sounds like it was run in water (and not changed after) -- Got plans for nerw bearings, or are ya gonna clean / refill and see how it goes?

 

[AgPete139]

Good job. I bet that pudding stunk like crazy!

Like Satan said, brake cleaner is fine. Spray the Hell out of it, and don't forget to remove the metal shavings from the magnet.

This is also a good time to paint your cover something interesting. In TRS diffy cover fashion, I am doing a colored face design in about 2-3 weeks when the mechanic gets done with my 4.88's in my spare Explorer axle. Have you seen PlumCrazy or ForOffroadDriving's rears?

4.88, Explorer axle, explorer leaves, and Belltech 6400 shackles, yahoo! I think I'll still need to use a 1" lift block at least, though.

Seeing your gear oil change is getting me excited about my own build.


Oh, but going off of what Satan is saying, I would hope the wear patten on your ring is still fine. How many miles are on your truck?

 

['99 EB Explorer]

I'm sitting around 225,000km on the truck.

As for the bearings...hadn't really put any thought into that. I was just going to clean what I could, put new fluid in and keep my fingers crossed.

Forgot to mention earlier...the last guy that had the diff open used some sort of tar or something as a gasket and it stuck like friggin crazy glue! You wouldn't believe the crap I had to go through to get that cover off!

All good though. I have a nice shiny new gasket. Wish I had the $$ for a new diff cover. Maybe some other time

 

[gribly]

8.8 diff covers are like $15 at NAPA. I broke my plastic factory one while changing wheel bearings, so I stuck the stamped steel NAPA one on.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

8.8 diff covers are like $15 at NAPA. I broke my plastic factory one while changing wheel bearings, so I stuck the stamped steel NAPA one on.

When I pulled the diff cover off and cleaned it, it was just the 2 divots in the bottom that looked like chunks missing. There's nothing wrong with it otherwise.

But it would've been nice to pick up a nice TRS one or something like that.

 

[CHKNFKR]

Nothin better than a couple quarts of peanut butter in your rear end....

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Nothin better than a couple quarts of peanut butter in your rear end....

Agreed.

So I know I should've been done by now, but I had to run to the local shop to have the diff cover cleaned properly...then I had to run to the other end of town to get some brake parts cleaner...then back to the shop to pick up my diff cover...then I realized I don't have a syringe to put the new fluid in....so back across town to the bank and back to the parts store to pick up a syringe.

Now everything is clean and ready to go...but I'm taking a lunch break.

My god I'm a slacker

 

[CHKNFKR]

Sounds to me like you're right on schedule! I think if you check the manual the next step is making a beer run

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Sounds to me like you're right on schedule! I think if you check the manual the next step is making a beer run

How could I have forgotten that!?

Damnit...and I just had the last of the Sleeman the other day when I was grilling up those steaks!

GRR!!

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Pix as promised...

Just some general pix of the differential and fluid. Nothing specific.


THA GOOP!!!

And in the cleaning process...

This one shows a good angle of the ring gear...

So it's all back together now...but the noise is still there Oh well...at least the fluid is in good shape now.

 

[407Link]

i can smell that from fl

 

[AllanD]

Often gear oil that looks like pudding in the rear diff is indicative that someone changed out the SYNTHETIC factory 90w-140 gear oil
and refilled it with a non-compatible oil and failed to completely clean out
the housing.

It takes only about 3 oz of oil stuck in the axle tubes to cause the whole mess to congeal.

Failing that adding non-compatible oil to the 90w-140 has similar effects.

I've had mixtures of ford synthetic gear oil and crank case oil set up to such a degree that you could handle chunks of the resulting "material" without gloves or getting your hands oily as the entire mess turns into a soft rubbery material.



AD

Well, boys and girls, I think I've figured out where the howling is coming from in the rear of my truck!!

Pulled the diff cover off(which has obviously been bounced off a few rocks) and the goop that came oozing out had the consistency of pudding! Not to mention the grey/brown color.

I've snapped a couple pix, but I'll take more later and post them up. I'm just inside warming up while the goop runs out of the diff.

Next is: 1) Fuel filter 2)Figuring out what's causing the truck to almost die when the RPM's come down after initial startup.


OH! btw...is brake cleaner safe to use to clean out the diff??

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Often gear oil that looks like pudding in the rear diff is indicative that someone changed out the SYNTHETIC factory 90w-140 gear oil
and refilled it with a non-compatible oil and failed to completely clean out
the housing.

It takes only about 3 oz of oil stuck in the axle tubes to cause the whole mess to congeal.

Failing that adding non-compatible oil to the 90w-140 has similar effects.

I've had mixtures of ford synthetic gear oil and crank case oil set up to such a degree that you could handle chunks of the resulting "material" without gloves or getting your hands oily as the entire mess turns into a soft rubbery material.



AD

Wait...wha?? 90w-140?? Hmm...they told me otherwise at the parts store. I've got synthetic but it's not 90w-140....it's wayyy less than that.

 

[adsm08]

I've had mixtures of ford synthetic gear oil and crank case oil set up to such a degree that you could handle chunks of the resulting "material" without gloves or getting your hands oily as the entire mess turns into a soft rubbery material.



AD

Do you happen to know the ratios that cause that? I'd very much like to try this with the surplus building up on the bottom shelf of my tool cart.