Recently the rear diff on my offroader ran out of oil and locked up on a gravel road.The right side seal leaked without my knowledge. After getting it home and cooled down I noticed that I can still spin the the rear diff without too much effort.So I am wondering if I can just replace that seal and fill it full of oil again or if I would be better off getting a new diff from the junkyard and welding the spiders together and replacing the one thats in there currently. If it matters the rear diff is a 4.11 ratio R160 from an early automatic legacy,

IF you can keep oil in it you should be alright. I had one leak at the pinion seal and it had locked up at least twice, but put many miles on afterward.

 

At least immediately. Swapping in a whole diff would be less labor than doing the seal if you happend to just have a spare laying around.

 

How long did it take to leak out. The example i had mentioned i had to add oil to it about once a week to 2 weeks.

 

I don't condone operating wrecked parts, but this is based on my experience.

I'm guessing it took about a day.I didn't notice it leaking before hand.The the way to go wheeling I thought I smelt it burning but I didn't see anything,then it locked up on the return trip home after playing the whole day.I don't have any idea how much oil was it to start with though.The last time I checked the oil in the rear diff was when I welded the diff and stuck it under there a year ago.

Perhaps it was low for a long time. I would just fill it up and if it drives fine, just top it off.

Perhaps it was low for a long time. I would just fill it up and if it drives fine, just top it off.

i would just fill it and run it too after making sure there's no obvious chunks.  i've seen locked up engines run and turn and busticated inner DOJ's run fine once cooled down...those diffs are rather robust and simple, i wouldn't be surprised if it ran without issue.

 

probably likely he'll have noise/play if there's a problem?

Edited May 19, 201312 yr by grossgary

how do you bust a DOJ and have it work after it cools down?every single DOJ ive broken scattered its parts all over the road.

how do you bust a DOJ and have it work after it cools down?every single DOJ ive broken scattered its parts all over the road.

I think you read this post wrong.