Broken springs in my rear diff

[ChainedWalnuts]

Hey guys, I'm doing a fluid change on differentials and came across something that probably shouldn't be attached to the magnet of the cover. Broken Springs. I don't know much of anything about the gears in differentials, and so I'm hoping for a little help and troubleshooting with this.
I have a 98 tj wrangler sahara, 5 speed, no ABS. Which should make it a Dana 35 axle. What do you all think of these? Should I just finish replacing fluid and drive on like nothing is wrong? Is this a bigger concern than it seems like rigjt now? Thanks!

 

[ChainedWalnuts]

 

[Jim Byrne]

Looks like a heli-coil but longer than I have seen before. Do you have a locking differential? It could be a part rom it. If the diff is stock the didn't come from it.

 

[dbbd1]

It looks to me like a spring that you might find inside (or on the outside) of tubing to prevent kinking.

 

[ChainedWalnuts]

It is the stock diff and it is does not have locking diffs. If it's a spring to prevent kinking of some tubing, where might that come from to be able to get inside my diff?

 

[boostedv6]

Some seals have springs in them, it could be from one of them. This is the SKF pinion seal for the 35 it has a spring around the inside part.

 

[Vinman]

Looks like some old school choke cable sheathing

 

[Vinman]

Some seals have springs in them, it could be from one of them. This is the SKF pinion seal for the 35 it has a spring around the inside part.
View attachment 186799

Ding ding ding! Thats about the only thing inside a stock differential that the spring could come from.

 

[mrblaine]

Looks like some old school choke cable sheathing

It is the spring from inside the seal like the pic above.

 

[dbbd1]

Damn, I should have known that.

 

[ChainedWalnuts]

Thanks everyone for the info. I ended up checking out my pinion seal and realized there was a leak there too. I pulled it off and this is what I found; a fully intact spring around the seal and crushed spring underneath it. From my research, it appears there should only be one spring around these seals or am I mistaken? Also, is this a dana 44 seal?? Do I actually have a dana 44 rear axle? All of the 35 axle seals look different than this (which looks like a front dana 30 and rear 44).

 

[HYRYSC]

Take a picture of your rear diff and we can answer.

Now the mystery becomes what caused that damage? Might be because the PO didn't take care when inserting the axle back into the diff?

 

[SvtLdr]

If the photo in post #2 is of a magnetic drain plug, then my money is on Dana44. The Dana35 came with a plastic cap in the fill hole, not a metal threaded plug.

 

[HYRYSC]

Hmm, I thought that the dana 44 on TJ's did as well? At least until the later years? Maybe I was mistaken.

 

[HYRYSC]

Thanks everyone for the info. I ended up checking out my pinion seal and realized there was a leak there too. I pulled it off and this is what I found; a fully intact spring around the seal and crushed spring underneath it. From my research, it appears there should only be one spring around these seals or am I mistaken? Also, is this a dana 44 seal?? Do I actually have a dana 44 rear axle? All of the 35 axle seals look different than this (which looks like a front dana 30 and rear 44).
View attachment 187167View attachment 187168

Just a thought, but maybe someone put a 44 seal inside a 35 rearend leading to the damage?

Cancel that, looks like they are the same part from what I can see.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

my guess is the pinion seal has been replaced before, but they mangled it getting it out and left the old spring inside before putting the new one in.

 

[ChainedWalnuts]

Take a picture of your rear diff and we can answer.

Now the mystery becomes what caused that damage? Might be because the PO didn't take care when inserting the axle back into the diff?

 

[SvtLdr]

Dana44 it is!

 

[ChainedWalnuts]

Well how about that, thanks everyone! Now i know I have a dana 44 and where the springs in my diff cover came from. Glad I joined this forum. One more question though. I've had an impact gun, pb blaster, and a hefty breaker bar on the front pinion nut trying to break it loose (because it is leaky too). It hasn't budged. Any helpful tips beside persistence with more pb blaster and impact gun to get it off?

 

[freedom_in_4low]

PB blaster is useless. I hear Kroil and Liquid wrench suggested a lot around here. My personal go-to is 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone. Haven't broken a fastener since I started using that (not that a pinion is a particular risk for breakage).