Leaking VLSD (cross-posted)

[aesic]

*I posted this in the 240 tech forum but I think more people read here so I'm posting it here too. Need a resolution by this evening.

I finally got my VLSD in at 1am last night and drove it around a bit. When I came out to the car this morning I found some drops of oil on the ground. Not too much, but enough to be noticable. The oil definately smelled like gear oil. There was also some oil on the gas tank. I'm assuming the VLSD is leaking.

When I drained the pumpkin it had less than a liter of oil in it. It could be that the previous owner drained it most of the way but not all the way or that there is a leak in the seal or cracks in the casing (more likely). Another thing I noticed was that when we were torquing the bolts that attached the back diff cover to the car, the bolts wouldn't tighten all the way (broken diff cover?). We used a torque wrench and we could only get it to 40-50lbs/ft and then it just never got tighter than that. It kept spinning, but not any tighter.

Any ideas on ways to assess the situation better? I really hope its the seal and not a broken diff cover cause then I could just seal it from under the car. If its a broken diff cover, I get to do the whole disassemble/reassemle thing over again. Hopefully the USDM case fits the JDM VLSD case (didn't check and I'm at work now).

Any and all input would be much apprecaited.

-aesic

[aesic]

So I realized that I filled the pumpkin COMPLETELY full of gear oil. I tipped the pumpkin on its side when filling and filled it till the oil came to the fill hole. Apparently you are only supposed to fill it to the fill hole when it is right side up (which ends up filling the pumpking about half way full of oil). I was wondering why it took ~4 quarts instead of 1.5-2 quarts

Now the question is, did I break the seal in the pumpkin from oil expanding or is it somehow just letting excess oil out? Also, is it possible to seal it back up without taking the entire pumpkin out? Guess a broken seal is better than a cracked diff case.

-aesic

[Red coupe]

I dunno but it sounds like you stripped the hell out of those bolt holes if the bolt just spins with out getting tighter...

[aesic]

Well there is a constant 40-50 lbs/ft tension, its not spinning freely. They are supposed to be torqed to 72-87lbs/ft but I was never able to get it that tight. I guess its possible that the previous owner broke them....

-aesic

[fatboy]

id otn torque diff cover bolts. i get my 3/8 impact and hit each one 2 times. i dont recommend that though

[574-240sx]

I used an impact with red RTV on my rear cover of my J30 and it sealed fine. Sound like the extra over filled fluid came out of the breather on the top of the diff. You should be fine after you drain out all the extra fluid. Just pop off the side fill plug and let if drain to the proper level.

[aesic]

Is there a breather/overflow hole on the top that would let oil out? That would be great if there is.

-aesic

[Fenvy]

have you considered something like this?

[aesic]

A new rear diff cover? Hope its not to that point and I hope its just oil coming out of the overfill hole (if there is such a thing).

-aesic

[Fenvy]

yeh there is a fill hole

if you look at it from the back of the car, it will be on your left hand side and kind of high up there on the diff itself (not on the cover)

[aesic]

I know there is a fill hole on the side where you put in the oil (which is where I put the oil in) but is there a "overflow" hole that would release oil if it is too full? My issue is that I filled the diff to the fill hole when it was on its SIDE (thus filling it COMPLETELY full of gear oil). You are supposed to fill it right side up, in which case, filling it to the fill hole is only about 1/2 way full of gear oil. I have too much oil in there now and I'm hoping that its overflowing out of a overflow/release hole instead of through a leak in the seal or diff cover. Thanks for the help.

-aesic

[Fenvy]

I could be wrong but I read somewhere that you shoudln't mess with the overflow hole

I filled mine from fill hole and I used 1.5qt

just to be sure though, I recommend you to open the fill hole now and see if you can fill the fluid by sticking your finger inside

[aesic]

Yea, I filled mine when it was out of the car so it I proped it sideways to fill it. Ended up putting in about 4 quarts (I was wondering the whole time why it took so much). I've driven 50+ miles with it as is. I figure I won't run out of oil since it was filled 2x the recommended amount and its not leaking too fast. I just returned the jack and stands to my friend so its kinda hard to get under there now. Maybe I'll go to his house after work today and open the side fill hole, see if any comes out, and also check to make sure its full to the fill line. I just really hope there are no broken seals or covers.

-aesic