• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Being Diff-icult

hard to tell from the pic, but is that at the top or the bottom of that bore. Your idea of a leak test should be enough provided that the vent hole is open so no more pressure than ambient is pressing agianst the seal.
 
I 'grees with Doc, it wouldn't guarantee anything unless it did leak. Couldn't hurt to try, though.
 
TR3driver said:
I 'grees with Doc, it wouldn't guarantee anything unless it did leak. Couldn't hurt to try, though.

Guess you are right Randall... if it leaks well then I have my answer immediately!

Steve- the gouge is just about in the middle of the bore... the good news is that hopefully there should still be some "sealing" surface for the metal edge of the oil seal... hopefully!!
 
If that's the only gouge and you tend to it the way you propose, you'll be fine. Hedging a bit;... even if it does, it won't compare to a leak around the pinion shaft.
 
You're making me feel a whole lot better P'boy.
I'll let everyone know how it goes after I get it back in and give it a drive.
Here's the Hylomar that I purchased...
 
Progress report:
I carefully filed down the high spots on the gouge, then filled in the gouge with epoxy. When it was dry, I used 400 then 800 grit to clean it up. Finally, reinstalled the seal with Hylomar.
Photo shows the gouge, the epoxy fill, the seal in place.
Will give it until tomorrow afternoon to setup and then I will fill it with gear oil.
 
Poolboy's right. If it leaks now, it won't be from that seal O.D. :devilgrin:
 
Hopefully by this weekend I should know if it holds up.
What about sealing the flat washer that goes under the castleated pinion nut? It can't hurt to use the Hylomar on the flat washer and the nut right?
 
A ~thin~ coat wouldn't hurt anything.
 
Just finished putting the diff back in the car. NO leaks so far. Tomorrow I will get the exhaust back in and take it for a ride to check out the diff and the new HVDA 5-speed.
How will I sleep the night?
grin.gif
 
It's "tomorrow" now. We're waitin' :laugh:
 
Good news and not so good news...
The toyota 5-speed works great.
There are no leaks from the diff.
The bad news is that the diff is making a whineing noise... I must have done something to it when I removed the diff flange in order to change the seal. I can only think that I must have altered the preload on the pinion by taking off the castleated nut and putting it back on :frown:
Now what? I don't think I'm qualified to open the diff case and try to fix it.
Don't know if a transmission shop will be able to do the repair the RIGHT WAY.
Help.
 
I hate that, Elliot. You may remember in my post on page 1 discussing the situation with a Nyloc nut vs the Castellated nut.
The castellated nut usually indicates a collapsable spacer.
You can set the end float again, but you'll need a new spacer and of course another seal.

Darn....
 
OK, a little more info... a collapsable spacer.
Where do I get one; Moss?
I will check the Bentely manual for any instructions... by the way, I just came in from the garage and removed the diff (again!) from the car. I want to drive it, not make this my lifes work :driving:
 
You sound like me. Well you actually have me beat. Last summer, 3 differential drops in 2 weeks.
Yeah Moss has both types collapsable is #674-215.
What you do is torque the collapsable spacer with a torque of 90-100 lb-ft on the castlled nut with the pinion held tight and not rotating. Then let the pinion rotate as you have the torque wrench set at 15-18 lb-ft. Adjust until you are in that range by adding or subtracting thin spacer shims.
It would be good to have an extra collapsable spacer.
If you go the non collapsable route, the final preload of 15 to 18 is done totally with spacers and a nyloc nut tightened down as far as it will go then see if 15-18 turns the pinion, making adjustments by adding or subtracting thin spacers.
Those shims are available from Moss, too in 3 thicknesses "front pinion bearing" shims.
It's all in Haynes and Bentley..
 
I'd suggest you get a manual that covers the collapsible spacer (my TR6 Bentley doesn't seem to even mention it) and follow it's directions.

According to the Stag Repair Operations Manual (the Stag diff is very similar, tho not identical to the TR6), the CS should be replaced every time that the diff is reassembled, and the nut should be tightened only until it takes 13 - 20 INCH pounds to turn the pinion (without the carrier installed). No shims are involved to reach the 13 - 20 inlb ... this is the advantage of the collapsible spacer as the factory didn't have to mess with the shims and repeated dis/assembly.

I have read that you can "get away" with not replacing the CS, but it's done by marking the position of the nut before removing it and then restoring it to the same position. The 90 - 120 ftlb figure is used only with the non-collapsible spacer & shims.

Personally, I'd be looking to convert to the earlier setup; but since my diffs already had the non-collapsible spacer, I'm not sure what is involved in the conversion.
 
Randall's post got me to thinking while I was up watching the Malaysian GP.
The castellated nut actually went on the pinion with the non-collapsible spacer and the nyloc is for the collapsible spacer, contrary to what I said earlier.
So if you had the castellated nut and you got the other shims back in, you may not have a problem with the end float afterall. If you did remove the big non- collapsable spacer, you might check that the tapered end is facing the front of the car.
 
Randall, P'boy... thanks for the advice. You are right about the Bentley manual Randall; I wish they had more detailed info on the diff. Thanks for the part numbers P'boy.
Tomorrow I will order the stuff and I might take a stab at it.
More to come....
 
If you want, Elliot, I could scan that section from the Stag ROM & email it to you. I can't see any reason it would be significantly different for the TR6; the gearsets & such are interchangeable.
 
Back
Top