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Hi guys,

As you can see I have an oil leak from my LSD. Can this be fixed easily? It seems to be coming from the main join in the housing. Im guessing I have to remove it to do so.

Pain in the bum as Ive not long ago bought it second hand and installed, from a club member.

Appreciate your advice,

Nicky.

not sure about the early model diffs

but you should be able to remove the rear cover, clean up and re install with silastic

Thanks Reggie,
... can this be done in position by removing the prop shaft or does the diff have to come out? Ive tried breaking one of these open before and found it almost impossible and the diff wasnt in the car. What silastic is needed, anything special for high temps?

Re breaking open; unbolt and use a trolley jack to separate. Only use the jack to crack it apart not lift it to the moon or anything


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Ok, so I dont need to remove the whole diff to do that? Also again, any certain type of high temp silastic? thanks

Hi.
I assume you are still using a standard na6 housing and diff and have drained the oil.
The diff housing has driveshafts which are attached to the diff inside the housing which means without removing the driveshafts the two housings will not separate. If na6 has bolt in driveshafts separate from the outputshafts and remove the outputshafts. Remove the bolts from the tailshaft. Separate the diff housing (cast iron) from the ppf frame undo the bolts holding the two casings together separate them and you can now put your sealant on. Make sure the surfaces have no oil on them or you will have to do it all again

Ralt is probably quite correct but the idea is to read the repair manuals.

Thankyou Ralt for your helpful information.

Mr Morlock, I have looked up fixing an mx leaking diff and do not have anything in my manual about it, and couldnt find anything on youtube. I am a lady in her 40's who actually removed and installed the diff myself by looking in manuals etc, so am not one to just ask for info without looking for it first.
I thought this forum was for advise and help from fellow MXers and its sometime good to speak to people who have delt with the same problem to get their advise.

I have no mechanical experience except for oil changes and changing tyres but am willing to learn and always look for the info first before asking.

Sounds like a dodgy seller. Name and shame I say!

You can read every manual ever written and there'll still be good advice to be sought on "tricks and look out for's" from others who've done it before ...

And so we have forums ......

M1474 wrote:Sounds like a dodgy seller. Name and shame I say!

I bought it from a club member, nice guy, he had bought it a year or so earlier and was still in the box (second hand) from the eastern states seller. He never got around to put it in, so I cant blame it on him really. Maybe the previous seller knew, dont know, my bad luck I guess.

Hi.
You may be wondering how to get the output shafts out of the main housing. Use two screwdrivers (large) on opposite sides and lever them out. Be careful not to damage the seals which are in the housing. Do not attempt to remove the large nut which holds the tailshaft flange as this controls the diff set up. If you have any problems send me a pm. Have fun.

hi Nicky,

You definitely have to take the diff out of the car to reseal it. There is no way to get the housing apart because of the drive shafts as said earlier, plus it would be next to impossible to reseal it in the car, you would not be able to get around the unit to get sealer in. It is not a hard or long job to get the diff out, so be wary of expensive quotes. Procedure is as follows...

-- Jack the car up and put on Stands
-- drain the diff while in the car
-- remove bracing if you have it.
-- Take off 4 bolts from prop shaft - tie up prop to the frame joining the gearbox and diff.
-- Take off 8 bolts (4 each side) connecting the drive shafts to the diff.
-- put one jack under the power frame around the gearbox to stop the engine tipping when you remove the diff later.
-- remove the 2 big bolts that connect the diff to the power frame, the top nuts are pressed into the diff as you tighten them, so when un done, put the bolts back in 2 turns and tap them upwards to release the nuts or you won't be able to get the diff off the frame.
-- put a jack under the diff
-- loosen the 2 bolts on each diff mount slowly
-- this is the slight tricky bit, you need to lower the diff down off the mounts with the power frame and then slide the diff rearwards out of the frame and lower it to the floor.
-- done

Cracking the diff open
-- remove the half shafts - they should just pull out with a bit of force.
-- remove all bolts around the housing - make note of the position, because they are different lengths
-- crack the housing apart - try not to use a screw driver, because it marks the mating surfaces and makes them prone to leaks.
-- clean the surfaces
-- put a high quality industrial sealer around the surfaces - I use some industrial silicone
-- bolt it back together.
-- I tend to tighten things up until there is resistance and then leave the silicone to cure for a bit before tightening up.

Note - check that the leak is not coming from the half shaft seals. Also inspect the half shafts while they are out, if any of the surfaces that interface with the seals are marked, it could lead to leaks.

Should be possible to get that done in about 2-3 hours.

Great, thanks again guys for all the info, will tackle it after my final (8th round)track day on Sunday for the state sprint series.....................in which might I add, have secured third in class to a supercharged Lotus and a Porche Boxter S, my first trophy...................not bad for an old girl!

Are we serious that a workshop manual does not have section on differentials? If its leaking get a mechanic to do a visual inspection before launching into removing diff and half shafts etc.