Patching leaking diff cover

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
So, aparently teh front cover on my diff is leaking (Toy IFS front). When I had it off I noticed a small dent near the bottom, on the inside it's just a crack... I didn't think it actually went through, but I filled it w/ fluid last night and this AM had a nice small puddle... so yup loosk like it leaks.
Grrrr.
Now I know the *right* thing to do would be to patch it via welding... but it's aluminum... or I would have done that on the spot while it was off (don't have a TIG).

Now it's on and in place on the truck. Pulling that 3rd is a royal PITA.
I'm wondering... would a dab of JB Weld from the outside be ok? Or, maybe even grey RTV? If I used RTV, then at least next time I have it off for anotehr reason it can be removed and fixed the right way.
It's not like it's under a lot of pressure or anything...
 
rtv
 
You will need to clean the oil off as much as possible, so draining and removing the cover is probably your best bet.

I had a similar issue on the transfercase on y '85, previous owner cross threaded the fill plug and cracked the case. drained it, cleaned it well with NON CLorinated brake cleaner, spraying liberally, then blowing with air blower to help the cleaner into the crack.

Then after it is clean and dry, dobbing JB Weld into the crack from the outsdie AFTER scuffing the area with some medium grit emory or sand paper ( to help give the JB something to grab on) worked well, was stil there when I sold it, and not leaking.
 
you can look for the 2 part epoxy puddy stuff, very similar to JB Weld, at most hardware stores. A few weeks ago our bilge pump in the boat had a crack on the housing and was leaking when the boat was in the water. We went to the local hardware store and picked up some marine grade epoxy repair patch. it works on plastic, metal, etc. and even works when wet or dirty. obviously, the cleaner it is the better. That would be a really cheap alternative until you can repair it next time the 3rd member is out.
 
rockcity said:
you can look for the 2 part epoxy puddy stuff, very similar to JB Weld, at most hardware stores. A few weeks ago our bilge pump in the boat had a crack on the housing and was leaking when the boat was in the water. We went to the local hardware store and picked up some marine grade epoxy repair patch. it works on plastic, metal, etc. and even works when wet or dirty. obviously, the cleaner it is the better. That would be a really cheap alternative until you can repair it next time the 3rd member is out.
Click to expand...

interesting thought.
Conveniently, I cleaned teh cover really well while it was out/off.
I was leaning towards RTV b/c I figure I'll need to remove it later - not sure how easy it'd be to get a "real" sealant off.

I can't for the life of me figure out how the PO managedt his dent, it's behind the crossmember - must have slammed/tewaked the front end enpugh for one of the bolts to hit it - but it's \ a good 1/5" space to for the stretch.
 
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