freaking overflow on front diff

[pyrosity]

I have a 97 Ford Ranger. Tried putting her into 4 wheel drive on the pavement (about 35 miles an hour for 5 miles or so)and see how she feels running. She started smoking and i pulled ove immediatly and noticed fluid...(greyish oily) was everywhere and had been dripped or sprayed onto my exhaust manifold. I decided to stop running in 4 wheel drive and everything stopped. I later pulled over and looked under again and it looked as if the little overflow tube had a bunch of fluid dripping off it.

WHY IS THE FLUID SHOOTING OUT EVERYWHERE IF IT IS COMING FROM MY OVERFLOW? HOW DO I FIX IT SO IT STOPS?

THANKS ALL! Let me know if yah need more info...

 

[AllanD]

4x4 on the pavement?

with the hubs UNLOCKED I hope...

IF your hubs were unlocked just spinning the diff gets it warm
And if the last time you were wheeling you got it under water
(likely grey oil sounds like gear oil and water mixed)
It started spewing when you got it warm enough for
the water to boil...

I'm just guessing here, I could be wrong...

AD

 

[pyrosity]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY ALLEND....

No they where locked. Unfortunetly i got it from a guy who didnt put the truck back together after he was messing with it. The part of the story that you didnt hear is that the rear drive shaft fell out 30 minutes prior while driving down the road....luckily i had just pulled out of a parking lot and wasnt going faster than about 15 miles and hour so it didnt damage anything.....

I ended u walking down the road finding only 2 bolts.

I had to put it back together with only 2 bolts attached to the differential going aft. So instead of putting all the weight on 2 bolts i thought it best to run in 4 wheel drive to get me into town.....just go slow.....well she heated up and wasnt happy.

So know ive got issues that are unexplainable.

HOW WOULD WATER GET IN MY FRONT DIFF?

 

[4x4junkie]

HOW WOULD WATER GET IN MY FRONT DIFF?

Someone probably drove the truck through deep water at some point, submerging the diff.

I would start by checking the condition of the fluid.

Driving with the hubs locked on pavement is not a good idea either, although it certainly sounds like there are other issues with your truck.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Driving with the hubs locked in isn't really a problem, nor is using FWD if it's your only choice, but NEVER use 4x4 on pavement.

 

[Jspafford]

I drove home about 12 miles at highway speeds with no rear driveshaft in 4x4 (front wheel drive) when my ujoint went to pieces.

Talk about torque steer...

I think my front driveline has less play than the rear..

 

[Toms01PSD]

Driving with the hubs locked in isn't really a problem, nor is using FWD if it's your only choice, but NEVER use 4x4 on pavement.

Pfft! That's how you make sure it works! Lock it in, turn the wheel, and listen if it chirps!!!

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Yeah FWD rangers are Awesome! lol my driveshaft dropped this winter when when a u joint decided to explode, drove it in front wheel home and parked it till i could fix it, (didn't know what the D28 could handle with 31's and the rest of the truck to pull up a hill.) I went muddin in it too!

Why is it bad to run 4x4 on pavement (not that i do) but if the hubs are locked its still an open diff for most peoples front ends?

And yeah i agree with the water thing.

 

[Hahnsb2]

I drove home about 12 miles at highway speeds with no rear driveshaft in 4x4 (front wheel drive) when my ujoint went to pieces.

Talk about torque steer...

It's even more fun with a locker up front!

The reason you can't use 4x4 on pavement is because there is no center differential, the axle diffs handle different tire speeds side to side but not front to back. This is why AWD cars have center differentials.

 

[pyrosity]

OK...so if there is water in my front diff...do i need to completely open and drain it and refill it?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Yes, you need to clean it all out of there. It doesn't take much water to contaminate oil.

 

[pyrosity]

great.....where do i begin.....anyone point me to a Editorial of where i should look to DIY......thanks

oh....what color should my gear oil be and if i stick my finger in the gear oil fill hole on the front side of my differential...how far up should it be?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

The gear oil should be a nice golden color, it should not be murkey or white looking. The oil level should be up to the bottom of the fill hole.

 

[pyrosity]

ummmm...ok so theres no plate to take off....what do it do now? i want take it off and change it with out taking my yoke apart and dismounting my pumpkin.....

any ideas?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You have to remove it from the axle beam to clean it out properly.