Front differential drip

[Greenie]

State safety inspection coming up this week and anticipating 2 drops per week from the front differential housing might be a "safety" issue in Maine that could cause the truck to fail its annual inspection. I cleaned up the housing and the leak appears to be coming from the bolt at the 4:00 position (this axle has the stamped heavy steel assembly rather than a cover. No leaks from the input or the 2 output shafts. If I back the bolt out and apply thread sealant to the bolt threads and reassemble will that stop the seepage? The truck is stock, 1993, locking hubs, C5 Axle (4.10)... Does this bolt hole go all the way through and contact gear oil or is something else going on?

 

[Nero]

Ive done that with success before. I believe all the bolt holes are blind holes.

 

[rreegg]

I have a slow drip from potentially the same bolt - 4ish o’clock - on a D50. Nice to see it being discussed and some repair steps, was planning to do a full rebuild eventually with u joints et al. But also considered just rebedding a couple bolts.
No safety inspection in my state though so it’s been low priority.

Fuelish garage has 2 videos for the disassembly and assembly and maybe it’d help you visualize what the internals are like.

Here’s one, the bolts are fastened around min 16:40 :

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[Greenie]

I took the bolt out, cleaned it up and applied RTV to the threads and reassembled. As Nero said, the threaded holes are blind - no oil loss. It was a piddling leak, maybe two drops per week, but Maine state safety inspections are getting tougher and cover issues completely unrelated to safety.

 

[rreegg]

That's awesome love precision fixes like this

 

[HammerDown]

Ha, mine has been weeping for many years and I'll just top it off with more gear lube... and it'll stay weeping cause I'm not about to do that job laying on my back on cardboard, outside in the elements ... (I'm too old for that bs)
Not everyone is lucky enough to have an amazing, clean shop and a lift like that video > > > and yes, I'm envious!