RE: 4kq diff seals...

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

... I haven't done the ones on the rear diff, but I did do the ones on the
tranny.  This is something that is fairly easy to do on the front end ...
pull the inner CV off the drive flange, remove the bolt that holds the drive
flange onto the diff and pull out the drive flange.  Now the seal is readily
accessible for replacement.  The biggest thing you have to worry about is
not driving the seal in too far ... I actually used the drive flange itself
to start the seal and then drove it in a little farther with a drift.  There
are a couple caveats ... since you can't steer the rear wheels it may be
difficult to get the inner CV/half shaft out of the drive flange on the
diff.  This may need to be resoved by taking the rear suspension apart to
some degree.  The other caveat is that the early rear diffs had a very large
seal on one side of the diff ... make sure you know which part you need (if
your car is an '86 or '87 there probably isn't anything to worry about) ...
I hear this large diameter seal is very expensive as well (~$60-70).  Since
the rear diff sits in the back of the car it is even more prone to corrosive
attack on the drain and fill plugs ... you might want to be sure to remove
the fill plug on the diff before doing anything else.  My final suggestion
is that you get replacement gaskets for the inner CVJ/drive flange.

HTH and good luck!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> ----------
> From: 	rjandrew@post.cis.smu.edu[SMTP:rjandrew@post.cis.smu.edu]
> Sent: 	Tuesday, February 23, 1999 2:30 PM
> To: 	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject: 	4kq diff seals...
> 
> hello everyone!
> My 4kq has been great lately except for both window reg. cables
> breaking w/in 30 mins of each other last night...
> I have the parts to fix these ($3.50) cable + hardware....
> 
> but the more important issue is my rear diff seal is leaking....
> How hard is this to do and will I need special tools?
> Please don't tell me I need to yank the diff.....
> When my fluid level starts to drop I get an occasional crunch on hard 
> accelerating/turning/shifting to 2nd..... Never occurs when fluid is
> topped
> off... I am assuming this would make sense? Also the diff starts to whine 
> a LOT when the fluid gets between 1/2 to 1 quart low...
> 
> Any suggestions appreciated!
> TIA!
> Rich Andrews
> rjandrew@post.cis.smu.edu
>