rear diff leak(?)

when i put on my catback the other day Tony pointed out that my rear diff was dirty/oily

i am guessing i will need to look into it further , what parts would be involved , just a gasket/gear oil? is this something that would be easy to do , drain fluid...take off cover...install new gasket.....refill??

any help or suggestions would be great

and there is a pic in the members rides thread that shows the rear diff of my car from the other day if that helps

 

You should get a better picture its pretty dark, I can see its oily or wet looking but its hard to what all is wet or where it came from.

 

Its a plugged vent tube on top, its making it over-flow.

 

so do i need to just remove the vent tube and clean it out ? if so i should be able to handle that

 

You clean it from the inside of the diff, so you remove the upper plug and start cleanin.

 

thanks , i will try to do it tommorow

 

yea, depends where it's leaking. if it's just a clogged vent, that's fairly easy. or if the rear cover is leaking, also pretty easy.

the side seals mean the axles have to come off....which is a large project. not terribly difficult, but a lot of stuff has to come apart.

if it's the input seal. it's a bit simpler than the sides, but the nut that holds the input flange on is torqued on there very tight. so it's a PITA to get off, and at least as difficult to get torqued back down properly (and it's crucial that it does, as it's an integral part in the gear mesh. I did one and didn't get that nut tight enough, and it screwed up the gears in the diff....).

 

my plans are clean outside , check what was mentioned , and see what it looks like in a week or so , if its bigger then the vent i will be looking for someone to do this one for me

 

My drive way is open, let me know!

 

pressure washed it tonight and will check it in the morning

thanks