Rear Diff troubles

[magstang1]

My rear diff was leaking so I took it out to reseal. I popped of the cover and there was a considerable amount of gray sludge on the plug. I am assuming that is powdered metal stuck to the magnet on the plug. I guess in an ideal situation there would be none there, but how much is acceptable? How much should make me worry?

Next, what should I use to clean the surface of the cover before I reseal? Is brake cleaner ok?

 

[04TorchedSVT]

I would think that no metal shavings would be ideal. Anything else and i would be worried and try to find out whats going on. Brake parts cleaner will work fine on the reseal.

 

[jtm]

sounds normal, there is always some/little gray sludge on the magnet, and yes brake clean will clean it all up nice to seal up

 

[ShelbyGuy]

the grey sludge is what happens when the oil doesn't get up to operating temperature and water condenses.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

You're always gonna have something there. Clutches wear ya know. Wipe it off, reseal it, put some friction modifier and fluid in and go at it again. There is usually about 1/8" of shavings on those plugs.

 

[magstang1]

Thats what I figured. I popped the cover and sat the diff over my oil pan so it would drain. Cleaned the cover, and picked up as much metal as I could with a magnet. I'm going to seal it back up and top it off with Mobil 1.

 

[magstang1]

What are the torque spec's for the rear cover bolts, and the fill plug?

 

[viper82489]

not sure about the cover bolts, 45ft/lbs maybe? but the fill plug is a pipe thread so just put some thread sealant on it and make it tight

 

[magstang1]

Thanks. So many guys resealing the diff. I'm surprised no one has the spec's.

 

[viper82489]

I found it, its 24ft/lbs. man I was way off

 

[magstang1]

Thanks for the recon work. May I ask where you found it. It seems pretty tough to find.

 

[magstang1]

So, this is what I dug up.

Torque Specs in Ft-lbs and Wrench Size

Rear axle nut 240 36mm
ABS Sensor 17 T40 or 1/2"
Tie Rod end 35 18mm
Shock Lower 98 18mm
Knuckle Upper 66 18mm
Knuckle Lower 85 18mm
Lug Nuts 95 13/16"
Diff Housing Cover 24 13mm
Filler Plug 25 3/8" squarei
Pumplin Front 52 18mm
Pumpkin Rear 76 15mm
Driveshaft 83 12mm 12 point

Mods: Maybe we can dump this in the tech section, or make a sticky for torque specs.

 

[viper82489]

I found it here

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/how-230/291687-how-billetflow-irs-brace.html