Chunky rear diff fluid

TJuser

TJuser

TJ Enthusiast
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Dec 14, 2023
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I need some expert advice and diagnostic skills here

I pulled my rear diff cover off to replace the seal and just clean it out. When I'd changed the oil previously, it had chunks and a ton of man glitter (I'm not so worried about the glitter as that seems to be normal, it just seems to be super heavy)
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While open, I took a look at my ring and pinion because it makes bad whining noises in 4th and 5th gear and there seems to be a little bit of slop in the driveline. I'm not sure how this looks to you all, but it seems fine to me.

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I don't see anywhere that the chunks would have come from, other than possibly the spider gears which are hidden by the locker. Now in regards to the bad gear whine, could backlash or setup being wrong cause it?
 
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And on a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is it to mess with the gears. I've hauled the front diff out before but I haven't actually messed with gearing setups.
 
What do the teeth look like up close? Hard to see in your photos. Did you rotate the pinion gear to get a look at all the teeth?

If you changed the oil previously and it had "chunks", you obviously have something set up incorrectly. The rotation is likely the backlash.

Gears require precision to the thousandth of an inch. Its tedious work and requires patience. Its a good skill to have and if your jeep isn't a DD, then give it a shot.
 
Is there any play in the pinion yoke other than rotational? Does it pull in and out at all or up down? If at all then the diff could use bearings. Bad pinion or carrier bearings would make the gears deflect and make noise

That much crap in There i would want to look at all the bearings anyway.
 
tworley said:
What do the teeth look like up close? Hard to see in your photos. Did you rotate the pinion gear to get a look at all the teeth?

If you changed the oil previously and it had "chunks", you obviously have something set up incorrectly. The rotation is likely the backlash.

Gears require precision to the thousandth of an inch. Its tedious work and requires patience. Its a good skill to have and if your jeep isn't a DD, then give it a shot.
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Up close they look fine. I rotated it all the way around and I don't see much else than normal gear wear. It had 2.625 and 0.006 written on the ring and G2 2-2045-488 B17 stamped on it. It's currently a DD until i finish rebuilding my f350 but I normally do everything myself if possible because I can learn and save money at the same time (providing i dont half ass it)
Rickyd said:
Is there any play in the pinion yoke other than rotational? Does it pull in and out at all or up down? If at all then the diff could use bearings. Bad pinion or carrier bearings would make the gears deflect and make noise

That much crap in There i would want to look at all the bearings anyway.
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I'll double check on this, but trying to move the driveshaft around, it didn't have any play other than rotational.

JEEPCJTJ said:
Am I seeing actual questionable metal or just some kind of reflection from the lube?
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90% sure thats oil. I didn't clean off the teeth in that picture but I spun it around and cleaned it all off with a rag and didn't see anything out of the ordinary but now I'm second guessing myself😅
 
Not sure if you have it apart still, but I'd pull the bearing caps and check the bearings. Is that locker marked up with a pinion walking out? Not sure if it's a reflection or something but looks like it from my end but more so towards the bottom of the picture? Can't tell from my phone screen, I will have to check when I can get my laptop.
 
Morks said:
Not sure if you have it apart still, but I'd pull the bearing caps and check the bearings. Is that locker marked up with a pinion walking out? Not sure if it's a reflection or something but looks like it from my end but more so towards the bottom of the picture? Can't tell from my phone screen, I will have to check when I can get my laptop.
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I threw the cover back on but I'm going to take it back off to take another look. I'll pull the caps and check and post results here. On the teeth, you can somewhat see the wear marks of where the pinion engages with the ring. Do you know of anything else I should be keeping an eye out for when I'm looking at it?
 
TJuser said:
I threw the cover back on but I'm going to take it back off to take another look. I'll pull the caps and check and post results here. On the teeth, you can somewhat see the wear marks of where the pinion engages with the ring. Do you know of anything else I should be keeping an eye out for when I'm looking at it?
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I wish I could shoot up to Ardbeg and come help ya out on the way up, just passed through Tuesday coming back from port loring for some wheeling and fishing bad timing lol. From the phone it looks like your locker has marks or is that just my picture?

Saw this jeep on marketplace for a bit. Decided to keep it?
 
All good! I'm all over the place anyways. I live north of Vaughan, work in Milton (fun little daily drive) and often hang down near Cambridge

No marks there, just the reflections and i swiped er a little with a rag

Yup:ROFLMAO: Just kinda werkin through her, fixing what needs to be fixed and cleaning it up a little. Gotta do some rust repair on the body (or get a new tub) but everything else is pretty solid. I hate the salt here.
 
Ah okay, yeah pull the caps off and give it a good once over...

The salt is brutal man, I'm hoping this coming winter I can get at my stuff, unfortunately I pulled my skid off the other day and found some soft spots starting... Not sure what I want to do at this point, a rust free sport from down south looks nice... I have all the parts except the clean jeep lmao.
 
Morks said:
Ah okay, yeah pull the caps off and give it a good once over...

The salt is brutal man, I'm hoping this coming winter I can get at my stuff, unfortunately I pulled my skid off the other day and found some soft spots starting... Not sure what I want to do at this point, a rust free sport from down south looks nice... I have all the parts except the clean jeep lmao.
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Will do

Tell me about it. That 01 f350 im rebuilding is shot. New rockers, corners, fabbing up cab crossmembers and fully grinding frame, axles etc and coating with epoxy paint and primer. It's painful, the prices of tj's around here with rust and yet a similar price down south scores you a clean one. Anything cheap is properly ready to fall apart. My grandpa bought some cheap xj's to rip around our property in parry sound and one of em literally cracked in half
 
TJuser said:
Will do

Tell me about it. That 01 f350 im rebuilding is shot. New rockers, corners, fabbing up cab crossmembers and fully grinding frame, axles etc and coating with epoxy paint and primer. It's painful, the prices of tj's around here with rust and yet a similar price down south scores you a clean one. Anything cheap is properly ready to fall apart. My grandpa bought some cheap xj's to rip around our property in parry sound and one of em literally cracked in half
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Yeah that's no fun, I want to rip this one apart but I see rust free ones for 5k and it kills me lol, probably going to just fix this one anyway :ROFLMAO:. Sounds about right with the xj, sums up the jeeps for sale around here lol.
 
Morks said:
Ah okay, yeah pull the caps off and give it a good once over...
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Quick question. Does torque spec on them matter a ton? I'm seeing mixed results online. When I did the front, I torqued it to spec but I'm at work and I don't want to take the caps off without a torque wrench here because i still need to drive this thing home
 
Morks said:
Yeah that's no fun, I want to rip this one apart but I see rust free ones for 5k and it kills me lol, probably going to just fix this one anyway :ROFLMAO:. Sounds about right with the xj, sums up the jeeps for sale around here lol.
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When I was looking at jeeps, I looked at a 2 door xj. Neat little thing and the underside looked nice until i poked it and my finger went through. Just painted right over.
 
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Just because it's a differential and the rep they get about how finicky they are I would definitely torque it to spec... But 10 mins down the road... up to you lol.

Bought this xj 2 years ago (Sarnia), 0 rocker rust, floors were great, thought all was good and found a hole a month later, only spot on the whole rig. Did not need 2 rust buckets. Drove it for a month and sold it for double. Sweet rig, with a 5 speed. Would have loved to put it on some 33's, perfect rig for camping and fishing.

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Morks said:
Just because it's a differential and the rep they get about how finicky they are I would definitely torque it to spec... But 10 mins down the road... up to you lol.

Bought this xj 2 years ago (Sarnia), 0 rocker rust, floors were great, thought all was good and found a hole a month later, only spot on the whole rig. Did not need 2 rust buckets. Drove it for a month and sold it for double. Sweet rig, with a 5 speed. Would have loved to put it on some 33's, perfect rig for camping and fishing.
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Yeah I figured. I'll get it up on my buddies lift and dig into it a little later on.

Damn thats a nice unit. I love the xj's, especially with a little lift and more aggressive tires. I'd rather maintain and run old vehicles than new ones but it's hard around here with the freakin salt
 
Yup I am in the same boat, hopefully I can show this thing some love and maintain it. Hard to stop rust when you purchase one with rust!

That one had a 3" lift on 31's, thing was sweet!
 
Morks said:
Yup I am in the same boat, hopefully I can show this thing some love and maintain it. Hard to stop rust when you purchase one with rust!

That one had a 3" lift on 31's, thing was sweet!
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Amen to that...it's such a bitch constantly taking care of new rust spots and keeping it oil sprayed....I hate the dripiness but I kind of like oil leaks because it coats everything🤣

TheBoogieman said:
Stop all this XJ talk. You're making me miss my 99'. ;) Had to sell it to buy my Rubicon back after selling that. About 5.5" of lift with 33s. :cry:
p.s. Paid $3,000 for it.
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Oh come on, you had to tease us with that gem? That's just downright rude
 
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