Discussion:
Porous rear axle!
(too old to reply)
/\\/ / & E
2005-01-14 12:12:42 UTC
Permalink
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is dripping a
nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he reckons he can get
it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is he talking bollocks or do I
need a new axle casing.

Nige
Austin Shackles
2005-01-14 17:44:42 UTC
Permalink
On or around Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is dripping a
nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he reckons he can get
it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is he talking bollocks or do I
need a new axle casing.
can you spot where it's leaking from? Clean the axle casing, bet you find a
small rust hole. Weld it up. YMMV, IMHO, etc.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Confidence: Before important work meetings, boost your confidence by
reading a few pages from "The Tibetan Book of the Dead"
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.
Nige
2005-01-14 19:11:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by Austin Shackles
On or around Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
can you spot where it's leaking from? Clean the axle casing, bet you
find a small rust hole. Weld it up. YMMV, IMHO, etc.
I reckon it's goosed. It leaves a 10-15cm diameter puddle at every hour long stop when hot! I'll have a
good look & see what can be done. If not, how easy is it to change (all known to be good) diffs & bits
over to a new case, or at least a good case powder coated for the laugh!

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
JD
2005-01-14 19:40:33 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nige
Post by Austin Shackles
On or around Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
can you spot where it's leaking from? Clean the axle casing, bet you
find a small rust hole. Weld it up. YMMV, IMHO, etc.
I reckon it's goosed. It leaves a 10-15cm diameter puddle at every hour
long stop when hot! I'll have a good look & see what can be done. If not,
how easy is it to change (all known to be good) diffs & bits over to a new
case, or at least a good case powder coated for the laugh!
Nige
--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)
Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)
"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Changing all the bits over is not a difficult job, just a fairly big one,
particularly if (as is likely) some of the bolts are stubborn.
Remove axle complete assembly - u-bolts, prop shaft, brake line, shock
absorbers.
Remove brake drums, remove drive flanges and axles, remove hubs, remove stub
axles and complete brake assemblies. Remove differential assembly.
Reassemble in reverse, renewing bits as necessary. Bleed brakes, refill
diff.
As a minimum you will need gaskets for the diff and drive flanges, but it is
probably a good idea to replace the hub seals while you are at it, and you
will need new lock washers for the wheel bearings, and new nyloc nuts for
the prop shaft and u-bolts. other bits you may need include the u-bolts
that break while you are trying to undo them.
Think I've covered everything.
JD
Nige
2005-01-14 21:04:12 UTC
Permalink
Post by JD
Post by Nige
Post by Austin Shackles
On or around Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
can you spot where it's leaking from? Clean the axle casing, bet
you find a small rust hole. Weld it up. YMMV, IMHO, etc.
I reckon it's goosed. It leaves a 10-15cm diameter puddle at every
hour long stop when hot! I'll have a good look & see what can be
done. If not, how easy is it to change (all known to be good) diffs
& bits over to a new case, or at least a good case powder coated for
the laugh!
Nige
--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)
Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)
"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Changing all the bits over is not a difficult job, just a fairly big
one, particularly if (as is likely) some of the bolts are stubborn.
Remove axle complete assembly - u-bolts, prop shaft, brake line, shock
absorbers.
Remove brake drums, remove drive flanges and axles, remove hubs,
remove stub axles and complete brake assemblies. Remove differential
assembly. Reassemble in reverse, renewing bits as necessary. Bleed
brakes, refill diff.
As a minimum you will need gaskets for the diff and drive flanges,
but it is probably a good idea to replace the hub seals while you are
at it, and you will need new lock washers for the wheel bearings, and
new nyloc nuts for the prop shaft and u-bolts. other bits you may
need include the u-bolts that break while you are trying to undo them.
Think I've covered everything.
JD
New axle time then! Well, a decent 2nd hander will do as it only gte a bit of use really.

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Tom Woods
2005-01-14 21:51:05 UTC
Permalink
Post by JD
Changing all the bits over is not a difficult job, just a fairly big one,
particularly if (as is likely) some of the bolts are stubborn.
Remove axle complete assembly - u-bolts, prop shaft, brake line, shock
absorbers.
Remove brake drums, remove drive flanges and axles, remove hubs, remove stub
axles and complete brake assemblies. Remove differential assembly.
Reassemble in reverse, renewing bits as necessary. Bleed brakes, refill
diff.
Youve made that a bit overly complicated!. Me and a mate managed to do
the rear axle casing and diff on his landy in only a couple of hours
one day after his diff blew up.
You can leave the shocks attached to the plate under the axle and the
chassis while you do the swap. You can also leave the brake system
intact - leave it all attached to the backplate and then just cable
tie or hang it out of the way while you replace bits to stop it

jack up landy and put axle stands under chassis at rear.
Take off the rear wheels
Remove prop from rear diff.
pull out rear half shafts attached to the end plates (6 bolts at each
end)
remove brake drum
remove hub
remove brake backplate. take shoes off if necessary but leave the
cylinder and flexy pipe alone (tie the cylinder down to stop it
expanding while its out). tie it up out of the way
chop u bolts with an angle grinder if they dont look like they will
undo (so if they have been on there more than a couple of years),
Pull out the axle casing and diff. leaving the shocks in and attached
to the plate that sits between the axle and spring. You might fid it
easier to shuffle if back one way then out under the rear x-member.

Think thats it!. Ive done this job a few times!
Post by JD
As a minimum you will need gaskets for the diff and drive flanges, but it is
probably a good idea to replace the hub seals while you are at it, and you
will need new lock washers for the wheel bearings, and new nyloc nuts for
the prop shaft and u-bolts. other bits you may need include the u-bolts
that break while you are trying to undo them.
Aye. Make sure you have all the gaskets you need ready before you
start (will probably cost less than a quid for all of them)
I always keep a pile of hub lock washers, hub oil seals and hub
gaskets at home as i seem to get through a lot of them!

Also, you could do with a hub nut socket if you dont want to have to
chisel them in and out! (will only cost you a few quid and is very
useful to have!)
Nige
2005-01-14 22:36:08 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tom Woods
Post by JD
Changing all the bits over is not a difficult job, just a fairly big
one, particularly if (as is likely) some of the bolts are stubborn.
Remove axle complete assembly - u-bolts, prop shaft, brake line,
shock absorbers.
Remove brake drums, remove drive flanges and axles, remove hubs,
remove stub axles and complete brake assemblies. Remove differential
assembly. Reassemble in reverse, renewing bits as necessary. Bleed
brakes, refill diff.
Youve made that a bit overly complicated!. Me and a mate managed to do
the rear axle casing and diff on his landy in only a couple of hours
one day after his diff blew up.
You can leave the shocks attached to the plate under the axle and the
chassis while you do the swap. You can also leave the brake system
intact - leave it all attached to the backplate and then just cable
tie or hang it out of the way while you replace bits to stop it
jack up landy and put axle stands under chassis at rear.
Take off the rear wheels
Remove prop from rear diff.
pull out rear half shafts attached to the end plates (6 bolts at each
end)
remove brake drum
remove hub
remove brake backplate. take shoes off if necessary but leave the
cylinder and flexy pipe alone (tie the cylinder down to stop it
expanding while its out). tie it up out of the way
chop u bolts with an angle grinder if they dont look like they will
undo (so if they have been on there more than a couple of years),
Pull out the axle casing and diff. leaving the shocks in and attached
to the plate that sits between the axle and spring. You might fid it
easier to shuffle if back one way then out under the rear x-member.
Think thats it!. Ive done this job a few times!
Post by JD
As a minimum you will need gaskets for the diff and drive flanges,
but it is probably a good idea to replace the hub seals while you
are at it, and you will need new lock washers for the wheel
bearings, and new nyloc nuts for the prop shaft and u-bolts. other
bits you may need include the u-bolts that break while you are
trying to undo them.
Aye. Make sure you have all the gaskets you need ready before you
start (will probably cost less than a quid for all of them)
I always keep a pile of hub lock washers, hub oil seals and hub
gaskets at home as i seem to get through a lot of them!
Also, you could do with a hub nut socket if you dont want to have to
chisel them in and out! (will only cost you a few quid and is very
useful to have!)
more like it!

Ta

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Tom Woods
2005-01-14 23:38:57 UTC
Permalink
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:36:08 -0000, "Nige"
Post by Nige
more like it!
Ta
Nige
If i were you i'd try cleaning it up and welding it first like Austin
says as its a lot less hassle. since the rest of it is working fine
right now seems a bit silly to disturb it all if you dont have to!
Alex
2005-01-14 18:50:47 UTC
Permalink
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is dripping a
nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he reckons he can get
it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is he talking bollocks or do I
need a new axle casing.
It's gone rusty. You could clean it up and slap some Chemical metal on
the holes, slap it on in a big patch and it should cure the problem.
Although you're probably best looking for a replacement axle in the
long term, as the rust problem is only going to get worse, not better
unless you have it cleaned, welded, and re-painted properly.

Alex
Nige
2005-01-14 19:07:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by Alex
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
It's gone rusty. You could clean it up and slap some Chemical metal on
the holes, slap it on in a big patch and it should cure the problem.
Although you're probably best looking for a replacement axle in the
long term, as the rust problem is only going to get worse, not better
unless you have it cleaned, welded, and re-painted properly.
Alex
Yeah, thought as much, how much for a cheapie casing or full axle roughly?

I'll clean the new one up & change everything over etc. But a full axle (less diff as it's good) would be
better.

Nige
--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
Paul S. Brown
2005-01-14 19:26:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by Nige
Post by Alex
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
It's gone rusty. You could clean it up and slap some Chemical metal on
the holes, slap it on in a big patch and it should cure the problem.
Although you're probably best looking for a replacement axle in the
long term, as the rust problem is only going to get worse, not better
unless you have it cleaned, welded, and re-painted properly.
Alex
Yeah, thought as much, how much for a cheapie casing or full axle roughly?
I'll clean the new one up & change everything over etc. But a full axle
(less diff as it's good) would be better.
Thought occurs to check *where* it's leaking from

Porous axle in this case may only be a poor gasket seal between the diff and
the housing.

Yes, I suspect that I may not have got the best seal going when I did that,
but I damn well hope that diff's good - it cost enough grief to get in!

P.
Nige
2005-01-14 21:02:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by Paul S. Brown
Post by Nige
Post by Alex
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:12:42 -0000, "/\\/ / & E"
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is
dripping a nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he
reckons he can get it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is
he talking bollocks or do I need a new axle casing.
It's gone rusty. You could clean it up and slap some Chemical metal
on the holes, slap it on in a big patch and it should cure the
problem. Although you're probably best looking for a replacement
axle in the long term, as the rust problem is only going to get
worse, not better unless you have it cleaned, welded, and
re-painted properly.
Alex
Yeah, thought as much, how much for a cheapie casing or full axle roughly?
I'll clean the new one up & change everything over etc. But a full
axle (less diff as it's good) would be better.
Thought occurs to check *where* it's leaking from
Porous axle in this case may only be a poor gasket seal between the
diff and the housing.
Yes, I suspect that I may not have got the best seal going when I did
that, but I damn well hope that diff's good - it cost enough grief to
get in!
P.
Na, chaps had a good look & he says it's corroded through the case. Not a big problem in a 23 year old S3
& to be expected at some point. Might be easier to just replace the whole axle/casing as the diffs fine
with no noise etc. Odd that the diff case should rot through & yet the chassis is solid!

Anyone got a S3 88" rear axle for sale?

Nige

--
Subaru WRX (The Bitch)

Series 3 Landrover 88" (Albert)

"If you tolerate this then your children will be next"
beamendsltd
2005-01-15 09:02:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by /\\/ / & E
Bugger! The rear diff housing is slightly porous on my S3 & is dripping a
nice puddle. The bloke up the road in the garage says he reckons he can get
it sealed with some chemical sealer or other. Is he talking bollocks or do I
need a new axle casing.
Nige
It's possible that he may be able to fix it - at least temporarily.

A more permanent fix would be to replace the diff pan:

DA1044 Replacement Diff Pan - Rear (With Hole For Filler Plug)
£38.66 inc VAT
DA1045 Replacement Diff Pan - Front & Rear (No Hole For Filler Plug)
£36.66 inc VAT

Cheers
Richard
--
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