Dana 35 ran without fluid

[Brad4321]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 92 Ranger, 2.9L, 8.8 rear, 35 front, with the M5OD. I was extremely surprised to find the 8.8 and M5OD. Truck was real clean and drove excellent with no real issues. 4x4 worked. Truck is completely stock.

Today I went and changed the fluid in everything. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the fact that the front diff did not have a single drop of fluid in it. It was completely and absolutely dry. I filled it up, took it for a short drive and found the fluid is pouring out of what appears to be the driver's axle seal.

I have no idea how long it has been without fluid, but considering there was no evidence of leakage, I am guessing quite a long time (I have put 50 miles on it myself...but the previous, clueless owner put 30,000 on it). How screwed is the axle? Can I just replace the seal and rock on, or is the entire thing likely toast? Now that I paid closer attention, I did notice a faint whining sound when the truck is moving, but doesn't really seem to be effected by road speed.

I found other just as serious things wrong with the truck, but this is the deciding factor on whether I fix it or not.

 

[AllanD]

a Dana35 is the ONLY possibility on a 1991-92 Ranger, as for the 8.8"?
Ford was trying to use up parts that wouldn't fit the next year's model.

How "screwed" the front axle is is an unknown quantity.

Like when you are selling a used front diff chunk and
someone asks "how many miles on it?"

I was amused to pull the front diff from a 1993 explorer once...
The ring gear Still had the titanium white marking compound on it.

atleast implying that the owner of the vehicle who put over 100k miles
on the it NEVER engaged the 4x4 system....

So how much was the vehicle driven with the hubs engaged? No way to tell.

I'd definatly plan on dropping the chunk and visually inspecting it, but it
may well be fine...

AD

 

[85DANGERanger]

whats the proper way to install the seal mentioned? i put the seal on the axle itself, spring facing center chunk and just slide the axle in, is this the correct way to do it??

 

[Brad4321]

If there is a chance that it lived, then I am relieved. I didn't think the bearings would stand much of a chance without any lubrication. With no real odd noises, I was surprised to find it completely out of fluid.

The previous owner just used it for the 4 wheel drive, and I have put probably 10 miles on it in 4x4 myself already, but I don't know when it developed the leak.

 

[scotts90ranger]

the reason it would survive is that the front axle isn't engaged unless you engage the 4 wheel drive, if it all leaked out and the front axle wasn't actually turning, nothing is going to be wrong...

 

[Brad4321]

That I understand, but I know that it has been driven in 4x4...question is how many miles. I have put about 10 on it in 4x4 since I have had it, but it was already out of fluid when I bought it. Since the previous owner only used it in 4x4...

 

[scotts90ranger]

gotcha

best way to find out would be to pull the pumpkin and look at the internals, next way would be to jack up the front end (or if manual hubs, just crawl under) and turn shafts and see if anything is chunky or whiny... if no noise, it should be workable, change the seal and keep oil in it and it will last a while at least

 

[martin]

If the only fluid loss was through the axle seal there would still be a fair amount of fluid in there.

 

[Jspafford]

If the only fluid loss was through the axle seal there would still be a fair amount of fluid in there.

Seeing as the seal is about 1/2 way up the diff, the bottom should still have lube in it.

 

[Brad4321]

With my homemade dipstick, I didn't find any. With the axle engaged, the stiring of the fluid could empty it over time. I will know more when I pull the diff out this week I suppose.