God dammit. I can't stop the leak from the top of the diff. Tried removing the 2 bolts that are leaking and squirting some more sealant in there. But that didn't fix it. I figure I must have wiped some of the sealant off by accident while moving the cover into place around the sway bar

I have no daylight time during the week that I can fix the thing, so will have to give in and take it to the stealership.

Wife is PISSED, says no more off roading for me. Understandable I guess, after now spending the whole weekend wheeling and fixing the wheeling problems.

Ugh, sorry Rog

I'm so frustrated about this right now I fixed the leak at the bottom, but caused another damn leak at the top. I'm contemplating draining the fluid into something where I can reuse it (Its $16.99 a quart) then giving it 1 more shot tomorrow. Will mean taking a day off work tho, as tomorrow isn't a holiday for me.

Damn, sorry to hear that the differential cover is leaking in a different spot now.

Well I pulled it off again and can see that there was a lack of sealant up around where it was leaking. Not gonna be any problems with a lack of sealant this time, after putting the cover back on I had a nice ooze of sealant around the entire diff. Plus I only tightened the bolts just beyong finger tight. Once the sealant is a little drier in a couple of hours, I'm gonna tighten them up some more. So as not to squeeze all of the sealant out.

Fingers crossed.

Maybe half my problem was not allowing the sealant to cure! It says Drys in 1 hour, cures in 24 hours on the packet. I allowed about 2 or 3 hours yesterday before filling with fluid, then another 3 or 4 hours before I drove it. Don't really want to be out at 7am filling the diff, then driving to work only to find that it's leaking again.

This sucks! lol. I guess Permatex makes a product that has a 1 minute use time. If it fails again this time, then I'm buying that stuff. Rather than waiting so long.

If it fails this time, then I'm just gonna have to admit defeat and take it to the stealership.

Good luck Roger, just don't mention that you did what you did to them. They might be a little tweaked that you pulled the cover off.

Nice to see that you finally got off-road, Pun intended!

Yeaa, I'll have to try and make it look as original as possible. Throw some dirt on there etc. Maybe use a can of black paint on the bottom where I knocked it! lol. Gonna fill it with fluid later this afternoon. The stupid sealant stuff isn't very helpful at explaining when you should use the vehicle etc. I tried calling Permatex, but of course they are closed for the damn holiday. So I'll fill it later before it gets dark and take her for a short spin around the block, see if there are any leaks. Then leave her until the morning before I drive to work before putting any mileage on it.

Remember 4x4...

... when hitting shift....

...is $X$.

You gotta pay to play!!

Getting a diff cover to lay flat again to the specs needed to make a good seal is nearly impossible, there is a reason most diffs have a heavy cover or protection. Hence the AC cover... better fab something for the gas tank too

If you still need a name at Pinnacle, I've worked with Mike Rios the past few years. Both with my Xterra (rear main seal) as well as my Armada for a couple minor things. Tell him you're part of the club too. He may or may not remember my name, but never know. Good luck!

Well, Roger after seeing your difficulties I went an ordered the diff skid. Now to work on the other skids. Money, money, money.

PS. Linda and I are still alive and wanting to offroad. It should be easier in March for us to get out. We are looking forward to it.

Way to go making me feel better about fucking it up! It does seem to be a rather flimsy POS.

Well it passed the - drive 1.5 miles around the block test. So we'll see how it does tomorrow on the 20 mile each way commute.

WTF? Under whose advice? Why did you not bring it straight to your dealership? Maybe I missd something about what happened on the run, but thinking it's cute to say "stealership" is one thing, but seriously voiding your trucks warranty to play Mr. Mechanic is another.. Bad move Roger..
How did it happen anyways? Were you speeding? Was it an obstacle you should have had a spotter for? Who was in charge of this trip anyways? Tsk-tsk..

.... i take it you missed ....

This one

and this one



Well Rog, hopefully you got it all fixed up for good now.

Well believe me, I'm wishing I took it straight to the dealer, but it was suggested that off road damage would not be covered by warranty anyway! Which is understandable. No idea where I hit it, possibly on the little section where someone said to take the Left line, which was alledgedly easier. Which I proceeded to do, unawares that they didn't actually mean the LEFT line, they meant some kinda detour to the left.

Oh well! I hope it holds up this time, if not then I'll just pay the dealership to put it straight I guess.

Depending on your deductible, your insurance might cover it. Then again, would it be worth the risk of higher premium.

Doubt it was more than $500 worth of damage. Dealer would have probably replaced the cover with a new one, then refilled etc. 2 hours of labor $200, plus parts - $200 at a guess. $400 bill. Cost me $80 to fix myself and has lasted the trip to work, so hopefully it will hold out. If it starts leaking in a couple of months, then there will be no obvious signs that I fucked with it, I can then take it to the dealer then!

Roger, I'll say right now, I didn't mean to chastise you on the web here , but since I did, I'll apologize here too. I'm only concerned that you might have voided your warranty.

No problem dude. I regret the move to screw with it now myself after it took 2 whole days to put right. Plus the added concern that it might leak again at any given moment. I'll always be looking under there for a puddle for the next few months.

Hey, I thought the whole thing was worth it to get this pic!



Adam

OOOO.... Locker!

Pretty

I personally would have prefered not seeing the insides of the diff! But for you freaks who like that pic, here's a higher res version.

<< Hi Res Diff Clicky >>

Ooooo so thats what the easy button extends to lock the diff.