10 Bolt Leaking/Sweating at Diff/Axle joint?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
From: Whitby, Ontario, Canada
10 Bolt Leaking/Sweating at Diff/Axle joint? I was underneath my car putting some POR15 on my axle when I noticed on the passenger side of my axle sweating coming from one of the two pins that lock the axle to the diff housing?? Is this common? Would my extended GM warranty cover reparing this?? It's not leaking onto the ground......yet.
oh.... the tubes press into the cast gear housing (or pumpkin) I see now. The pins thing threw me. I didnt think there were pins, i dont think there are pins, i think they are just pressed. The casting reliefs make a cilindrical looking boss. Yeah, take it to the dealar, see what they say, good luck though. You may just want to save yourself the time, clean the surface up with a scotch-brite, goop some RTV on it and even paint over if you like, thats what I would do....
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,124
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
They are not 'pins'. The are plug welds.
I dont know if your chassis is still under warr ?? but Gm wont do anything about it.... but charge you to replace it at the full pop price.
As I can not say that this is a 'common occurance', I do see it more often than I like to. When you do start to physically see the oil weeping at the tube fitment into the center section.... it is time that you go see a differential shop.
They wont necessarily say that you need a new (or used) housing to replace the one you have..... a good shop will have the ability to fix it themselves or at least farm it out to a shop with a housing straightening jig. At that time, the housing should be throughly cleaned, the tubes welded to the center section and then straightened. I normally get around $200 for doing this operation. But...... if a good used housing is an option, I just might consider it as a bandaid. You never know if the same thing is going to happen to the replacement housing. I myself would weld the tubes.......
A bandaid fix of cleaning and throwing on some RTV isnt going to cut it once the tube starts leaking enough to drip. Not to mention, if you were driving and the plug weld failed....... well, lets just say you will probably be replacing more than just a housing.
I dont know if your chassis is still under warr ?? but Gm wont do anything about it.... but charge you to replace it at the full pop price.
As I can not say that this is a 'common occurance', I do see it more often than I like to. When you do start to physically see the oil weeping at the tube fitment into the center section.... it is time that you go see a differential shop.
They wont necessarily say that you need a new (or used) housing to replace the one you have..... a good shop will have the ability to fix it themselves or at least farm it out to a shop with a housing straightening jig. At that time, the housing should be throughly cleaned, the tubes welded to the center section and then straightened. I normally get around $200 for doing this operation. But...... if a good used housing is an option, I just might consider it as a bandaid. You never know if the same thing is going to happen to the replacement housing. I myself would weld the tubes.......
A bandaid fix of cleaning and throwing on some RTV isnt going to cut it once the tube starts leaking enough to drip. Not to mention, if you were driving and the plug weld failed....... well, lets just say you will probably be replacing more than just a housing.
