diferential leak

[kev]

small leak on relatively new ranger.

what do i do?

would rather not take the rear cover off

2004 ranger 2WD.only 12,000 miles on it.

 

[gotmudd]

small leak on relatively new ranger.

what do i do?

would rather not take the rear cover off

2004 ranger 2WD.only 12,000 miles on it.

if it's the cover gasket that is leaking you can do one of two things (1)check your fluid on a regular basis, like every day or every other day. the catch to that is that small leaks have a tendency to become big leaks. or (2) you can spend the 20 minutes or so to take the cover off clean it it up and put a new gasket on and be done with it. if you follow number one and forget to check your fluid and your fluid runs dry, you will be walking and it won't be a simple case of an easy fix by replacing the gasket that should have been rep[laced in the first place. welcome to vehicle maintenance

 

[Hahnsb2]

Where is the leak coming from?

 

[Jspafford]

There is no need for a gasket, put some blue RTV around the cover, once you clean both surfaces, and bolt it back on.

Let the RTV dry a few minutes and refill with gear oil.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

If it is the leaking from the cover seal, there is no fix other than to pull the rear cover, clean off all the old silicone from the diff and the cover and reseal it. You have to make sure to clean off the mating surfaces very will with some brake clean as silicone does not like oil. There is no gasket for it, just grab a tube of RTV silicone, pick your color.....doesn't really matter black, grey, blue.....whatever. Run a good 1/8" bead of silicone around the cover, bolt it back onto the diff and refill with some fresh 80w90. Should take you about all of an hour if you've never done it before. Deffinatly check tho to make sure it is the cover leaking, not the pinion seal.

 

[exbass94]

I would also pull the cover and re-seal it. You should change the gear oil now anyway to get all the break-in metal shavings out. Then change it every 50k after.

 

[kev]

actually there is an after market gasket which I purchased

what should torque the case bolts to
i dont have the factory manual

 

[86ford]

gaskets are junk. ford used RTV on the old ones and it held up well.i never torque the cover. go 1 to 1.5 turns past hand snug.

86

 

[86freebie]

gaskets are junk. ford used RTV on the old ones and it held up well.i never torque the cover. go 1 to 1.5 turns past hand snug.
1 to 1.5 turns past snug. snap snap snap snap snap snap snap snap.

rtv blue. and snug

 

[Dangeranger3]

I've used gaskets twice and they leaked. Use RTV. 15-25 ft. lbs.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Even if its the pinion seal it shouldn't be too difficult to remove and replace. I took me like an hour to do it. Take off the drive shaft (4 bolts), take off the nut thing in the middle (1 nut) remove the pinion seal and put in the new one carefully (make sure it goes on straight and sort of easy) Put the but nut back on and torque it down, put the driveshaft back on and fill it with 80-85w90.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

As stated don't waste your time with a paper gasket for it, RTV silicone is the way to go. Snug up the bolts till the cover is tight to the housing and some RTV is squishing out from around it.