HI John,
I struggle a bit to understand which bolts you removed, and from where the oil dripped.
Here are some images, and a few pics of the separate parts of the diff.
#16 is the large seal that HB chris described, and #13 the oil seal around the flange.
Two pictures showing them in-situ also enclosed for recognition. First picture shows seal #13 (mangled as i pulled it out with pliers)
Second pic shows the large O-ring #16 still in the bag, and the parts in green which it is sandwhiched between.
However, I struggle to understand how failure of these seals #13 aor #16 would allow oil to build up somewhere. If those seals are leaking, then the oil just drips on the ground.
And you describe that you removed the bolts from the drive shafts. So, i think the oil came from the cavity that exists between the flange of the diff with the 6 holes, and the shiny covers of the haft shaft; so in the cavity that is located at the cursor in this image:
which is what opens up if this interface is split by removing the 6 bolts through them (see tiny cursor in the pic):
In order to get oil there between part 12 (the flange) and your half shaft, it needs to go through the inside of the flange (#12), following the path of the bolt #11. Only then does it end up where ( if i understand you well ) it gushed out in your case.
That oil drips out from there shouldn't happen.
From a constuction perspective, it means the oil should travel past the threads of the bolt #11, and then creep from under the head (with ring!) of the bolt into the opening. Technically, those paths are not oil tight, so it could have happened that way
Could it be that a PO simply filled the cavity as a way of rust protection before tightening the 6 bolts? It could be done if you assembly everything on it's side....
Erik,
