Hello,

I was changing my oil yesterday and took a look under the whole car. I noticed that the rear differential had what looked to be oil covered in dust from the top of the pumpkin. I can also see the same dust covered oil around the drain and fill holes, which I didn't clean very well I guess.

So for those who had leaks in the differential, where did they start from? I can't really see the top of the housing because of the rear sway bar and mustache bar. For now I'm going to clean everything well and keep an eye on it. Also FWIW I drive up a 1/2 mile hill at 10% grade every day. Thanks for looking.

 

Did you change the gaskets for the fill and drain plugs?

 

No, but your talking about the metal washers right? The oil covered in dust around the drain and fill holes is very slight, leading me to think I didn't clean it very well when I was servicing it last. The oil from the top of the rear diff housing is covering about half of it.

 

What was the level of the fluid you drained?

 

I didn't check the level before I drained it. I do make sure the car is level with a level and add the recommended amount. I never add too much fluid and it never overflows when filling. I use Mitsu Diaqueen.

 

I had them leak because I reused the drain washer.

The rear diff looks like oil is all over the place, due to the turbulant air in the back. I used brake kleen to wash it down after changing it to a new washer and no more leak.

The key is to save the new fluid you just put in to reuse it. A very clean pan and suction gun work well.

 

Ohh you took off the whole cover to service it. I think this is how I'm going to do it this time around because of the leak somewhere near the top of the pumpkin.

Do you use a new factory gasket for the cover?

 

the rear differential uses rtv not a gasket to seal the rear cover if thats what you were asking

 

Yeah that's what I was asking. I haven't looked in the repair manual yet. Just seeing if I could get pointers.