Ok so the truck I have is in my sig. It's only got 5,000 miles on it and about 4 months worth of driving it. (tons of highway driving). So I'm underneath my truck doing an oil change tonight and I look back at the diffy and see that it's all wet with gear oil. I go back there and inspect things closer and the pinion seal is dry as a bone along with the diffy cover and fill plug. What gives?! I wipe everything spick and span and upon further investigation I see a little speck of cast flashing about the size of the tip of a bic ballpoint pen. I try poking at it with an awl but cannot get any fluid to come out of the hole. Has anyone seen where the carrier housings on a new truck were cast improperly from the factory? This is strange man. I'll drive it some more and see what happens and if it gets wet again. I'm afraid to take the cover off and look and see a ton of spider web cracks in the case. I do not want my diffy replaced especially on a new truck. Could I guy just put a bead of weld over the spot and forget about it? I don't want my new truck ripped apart yet. And no I didn't hit anything on the road to start this leak.

Any thoughts?


Joe

 

that sounds wierd.....but if its new, dont you still have a warranty? make them pay for it

 

Man, take that thing back and let them worry about. Get them to throw in a loaner car as well.

 

I know and I probably will, but since the techs around my area are such numbskulls, I like to diagnose the problem at least before I bring it in so I can help them find it quicker so they have my truck shorter and I don't get parts thrown at it that don't need replacing.




Joe

 

No one else? Any other ideas? Maybe the Vent tube is causing this?

 

If the casting has porosity, then I would definitely get it replaced.
The casting was probably made of a poor batch of iron.
It'll just continue to crack, and leak.

I would get it replaced with a NEW - not a reman axle.

Don't get stuck like I did - replacing front axle bearings every 12K miles.
Way too expensive nowadays. Let GM swallow the cost.

 

Joe, I work at AAM on the job that machines the 8.6 casting. Try to take a pic and e-mail it to me. I'll tell you exactly what happen... skoresky@yahoo.com

 

Sounds great, I will try to get you a picture tomorrow with my camera and email it. I would be interested to see what you think. I will also post a pic of the problem on the board here. I have a good digital camera so you should get to see the detail and how funny the dimpled area looks...


Thanks,

Joe

 

I've got the same prob with mine 99 silverado. I've put 3 new pinion seals and $800 worth of bearings. Still leaking. I have no idea whats going on. Last week i took it another shop, "they said" i need to replace the bushing that goes around the yoke that meets up with the seal. Possible thats the case with yours. If you get it figured out. PLEASE let me know.

 

Okay everybody, I have the pictures of this. The files are larger but VERY detailed for anyone who's interested. If someone wants to host them I'll email them. I think it's worth a look. They're very interesting......


I'm taking it in tomorrow to see what they can do. The problem is definatly a hole in the carrier housing...


Joe