scenarioL113

I had a pin hole in the top of my rear end, which only leaked on the highway.
I noticed a slight howl on the backlash and when I investigated I unfortunately found I had very little diff oile left. It really is not that bad but more of a nuisance.
I know the damage is done but is there any additive or something some one could reccomend to help the situation.
I heard maybe something from Lukas oil.

I temporarily repaired the hole with JB Weld and is holding great, I will braze or weld it next month. I drained what was left of the diff oil and then filled it with Castrol Full Synthetic gear oil.

I have another 3rd member I can put in but it is a different ratio than what I have. I will do it eventually but I am not in the mood to change the front end so it will have to wait until the spring.

BC Rider

some guys have told me that molyslip worked for them and quitened the howl.

While the idea makes some sense, it did not work for me and I ended up replacing the 3rdmember. Probably depends on which part is causing the howl.

MMA_Alex

were there any metal shavings in the gear oil you had left in it? If so it may already be too late.

You can try a mix of lucas and regular gear oil if you like.

No sense in wasting money on synth unless you get the synth lucas, which is like $20something a quart.

Lucas recomends a 50/50 mix of lucas and gear oil, and with that you may be able to hold off the inevitable for the time being.

toyota_mdt_tech

I suspect the gearset is galled. The only fix is new gears. A bad bearing usually is a little riugher. Pinion bearings do fail on this also.

scenarioL113

Yes there were shavings piled on top of the drainplug. That was the only shavings I saw. Put my finger in the hole and probed a bit and the rest was clean.
I agree the damage is done.

Thanks

toyota_mdt_tech

Small shaving like powder is normal. And even very small peices are OK, But chunks, well...

94Runner4x4

i had a whine that was just a whine at first, then it was a jet noise, not good, ruined my tranny cause it caused it to overwork itself, not a good thing. i would recommend putting the new 3rd member in because it only makes everything worse once the whining starts.

leiniesred

That BG gear lube additive drops my diff temps 10 degrees F! Synthetic oil drops the temps 3 degrees. The BG stuff comes in a yellow squeeze tube, available at NAPA) Using it during and after break-in may be my secret behind successful 3rd member builds. (+ Zuk's carrier bearing preload tricks)

For maximum run time on the damaged diff, I'd put some of that BG stuff in with a load of high-buck 90W140 synthetic oil and start building a new differential. Gears can howl and whine for a long, long time before they fail. I think you'll find pinion bearing damage on that overheated diff. Might as well build a complete new 3rd at your leisure.