Diff Questions

[MarkV]

So my Pinon gear nut that holds on the drive shaft fell off today. It had worked loose i guess. So i have a couple of questions:

Is there any fix for the nut coming off?

What color is the diff oil suppose to be? I took off my cover to see if the gears had been messed up and the oil was cloudy white grey.

 

[Mistwalker]

Red Loctite on pinion nut.

Gear oil could be brownish if old. Yellowish when new. Depends on type of oil used. Some synthetics could be other colors. Cloudy white grey doesn't sound good. Almost like it got some water in it. Does it look to have metal flakes in it? If you didn't mess up the gears at all with pinion nut coming off. You may be lucky enough to get it back together and use some fresh gear lube.

 

[05daytona]

Call the dealership and ask them how much it would be to apply the retaining flange for the pinion nut. The one they use for the recall. It didn't take the tech but maybe 45 min. to install it, so labor won't be that bad. I don't know how much the part costs though.

 

[MarkV]

Here is a pic of the oil.

 

[MarkV]

Call the dealership and ask them how much it would be to apply the retaining flange for the pinion nut. The one they use for the recall. It didn't take the tech but maybe 45 min. to install it, so labor won't be that bad. I don't know how much the part costs though.

Thanks for that!! I will do that.

 

[BBartow]

Here is a pic of the oil.

Yep mud/water

 

[jadocs]

Damn have you been submerging your rear end in water?


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[Ricks Ram]

Had my differential worked on under warranty last week had 8k miles on it. I bought my truck brand new it's never been near water and my fluid was milky like that. They asked if I had the truck in water and of corse I said no. I am not sure if they believed me. But I have no idea why my fluid looked like it was full of water. Looked pretty much like yours.

 

[05daytona]

I'm wondering if the vent tube is blocked and not letting out the condensation. Be worth a look.

 

[JPT]

I'm wondering if the vent tube is blocked and not letting out the condensation. Be worth a look.

I would imagine that if this was the case the rubber fill plug would let air in an out.

That just looks like water/mud got sucked in.

 

[MarkV]

Damn have you been submerging your rear end in water?

Once i went through some water once or twice but nothing that would do that.... There was no grains of sand or dust in the oil or in the bottom. And there was not any water droplets on anything.

I will blow the vent tube out with compressed air just to be sure.

 

[MarkV]

Here is a pic of the new Doge Pinion Nut

 

[05daytona]

I wonder if they would still install their locking flange too as part of the recall? After my fiasco, I wouldn't even trust a lock nut with loc-tite.

 

[MarkV]

They did not want to talk to me about it at the dealership. What happened to you?

 

[05daytona]

Pinion nut backed off and locked up the rear end. Fortunately it was covered under recall. I've heard that some people are having problems with the nut backing off even with red loc-tite. I don't know how true, it's just what I heard. So to say I'm a little gun shy is an understatement.

 

[MarkV]

Same here. Kinda scary eh!! How did you find out it was under recall?

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Procedure is to replace the nut anytime it is removed.. My thoughts are to insure that the nut has loktite on it, although the factory apparently forgot to use loktite on some of their factory builds. I have a couple of the HD flange nuts and reuse them with fresh loktite . But that's me...

 

[MarkV]

The new nut had locktight on it when i got it. Yea, i believe that they have forgotten!!

 

[MarkV]

Ok so i have been doing a bit of research. It seems that all dodge 1500 rear axles are.....um.... not to say anything bad about dodge.....Faulty. I was kinda hoping to put a better axle underneath but it does not look like that will work and be cost effective. Between the pinion nut and the clutch pack i dont like this axle the way it is.

I am thinking of just drilling a small hole through the nut and pinion and putting a cotter pin through it.

But while i am in there should i replace the clutch pack with a Detroit trutrac?

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Many of us have replaced the carrier and have a suitable fix for the pinion nut. My preference is the TruTrac, but I'd also look at a lunchbox locker.

What is a Lunchbox locker?

Lunchbox Lockers - What is a Lunchbox locker?