back axel problem ...lol

heya i'm 17 i drive a 92 blazer... i have a problem with my rear axel, i backed into a parking block at my school on friday...well i came out at the end of the day i looked underneith and there was what appeared to be grease or oil coming out of the axel, out the center, i think i might have cracked it when i hit the block.... i know this is a serious problem and i am lost in what to do for it, anyone have any suggestions how i could fix it ? or atleast slow the leek, w/o having to get a brand new axel...

heres a picture of my problem heh


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You need to replace your rear end housing cover, It's very easy to do. You better do it soon or you will lose all the oil in there.

crap...well how do i replace it? like where can i get a new one and how much would it cost...like a junkyard??....and how long do i haev till i lose all the oil which im guessing would be very bad....im only 17, i'm like panicing hah

There is nothing to it, Remove the bolts from the housing cover, and pry off the cover with a screw driver, scrape off the old gasket, ( have a pan uder it as there will be some fluid to drain out ) After you install everything, you need to refill the rear end with gear oil. There will be a bolt that fits a 3/8 ratchet ( square ) I think its on the passenger side of the rear end, and add the proper amount of gear oil.

Oh ya , You could get one from most auto parts stores or the dealer ( Dont forget the gasket to ) It shouldnt cost any more than 30 $ They might ask how many bolts are in the cover , to get the right one.

alright man, thanks so much, by looking at the picture do u have any tips on how long i have to do this? or any way i could slow it down ... ?

Dont wait to long , You could ruin the bearings if it gets to low ,Just do it as soon as you can, It s very easy to do.

ick, thats bad , cuz sence its only sunday i gotta wait till atleast the end of the week to be paid and be able to get to a junkyard and find one....this sucks

I would not get one from a junk yard !! Yours is rusted out, thats why it put a hole through it. You arent going to find a good one in a junk yard in new york lol , Just get a new one, like i said at the max 30$

You can still drive it just make sure it is still leaking, That means there is still oil in there But just try to get it done asap .

alright thanks man, i'll get it fixed on friday if it lasts that long, i'm so nervous hah... my friend said i should rap duct tape around it i dont see how that'd have any significents tho..

It wouldnt to much, and i would suggest some more gear oil before then(not sure if it will make it that long)

Yeah, check the level of the gear lube... it only takes a minute to do...usually you fill it up till it's even with the 3/8 bolt hole

alright i got the money to fix this problem tomarrow..now i gotta be able to get it done in like a period of 5 or 6 hours... i need to buy a new hausing cover , and rear end oil is that all???...and how do i refill it with the oil after i'm done, do i need to jack it up at all or anything special??...and is anything going to fly out at me like springs or screws that are really important, this is really the first major thing i've had to repair on my truck and i'm REALLY scared i'll do it wrong or forget to put something back in or wrong way and **** my rear end up lol....thanks guys, i appreciate it

This is a very easy job , Just take your time, it should only take about an hour to complete. All the parts there are going to be are the bolts you remove, the housing cover, and the gasket. The gear oil will come with a tube ( most do ) so you can get the oil in there from the bolt on the side ( 3/8 ratchet ) its going to be square. You will get some oil spillage when you remove the cover so put somthing under it.

If a gasket is sold, buy it, but it really isn't necessary. A nice bead of black RTV is good enough to hold back the oil, although you must wait atleast an hour to fill the diff back up with gear lube (Mobil 1 80w90 synthetic if it were me for the lube). With a gasket, you don't have to wait.

You'll fill the diff through the fill plug. You might also want to wash all of the crappy old oil out. I have always used brake cleaner to clean up everything inside the diff. That way nothing is left behind to react with the new oil. Brake cleaner does require a bit of time to evaporate (10-15 minutes to completely dry if you don't have compressed air to help).

I'm not sure if the cover can be put on upside down or not, but it definitely can't be put on backwards... If you could get it on backwards, you deserve a darwin award, LOL... Anyway, it's pretty straight forward. Remove the bolts, expect a shower of old, nasty gear lube (have a pan handy), clean things up (gasket surfaces are VERY important), and slap it back together with the new parts.

Good Luck. I'll be doing a rear end oil change on my Bravada in another week or two. Expect pictures when I do! Oh and your autoparts store should be able to tell you how much gear oil is necessary for your rear end so you don't go over filling it.

While you're at it, you might want to change the fluid in the front diff. as well...it dosn't take any longer than the back one, and your driveline will thank you for it in the long run, pluss you may increase your fuel economy...clean lube is happy lube

Synthetic oils have better thermal stability. As a result, they have less parasitic loss associated with them. They will last longer than conventional oils as well.

You know Swartlkk, your posts make me feel warm and fuzzy inside... not to get off topic

yeah crap the autostore didnt even have one in stock and they said i needed to know like a tag number that was supose to be on my axel, but i cant find it anywher... i dont know the next stop like a junkyard heh...i baught teh grease and was just gunna put more in it to buy me some more time...and the bolt is not gunna budge for anything, i tugged on it for a good 2 hours and got no where

If you can't get that bolt out, your only other option is to drill a hole in the cover and install a fill plug. You have to have an opening to fill the diff through. If you do go the route of drilling the new cover and putting in a fill plug, you must make sure that it is on the same level as the fill plug that is on the diff housing.

would JB weld work ?...not having much luck finding a new cover, i figured i can take the cracked one off, clean it up , use jb weld to cover the crack, and then drill a hole in it to fill up with oil and use a ear plug to plug the hole...sound like a good idea? or no?

Don't half ass this.
Call your dealer and tell them what you need, give them your vin number and they will tell you which axle you have and which cover you need. (You need to find a different parts store, obviously they don't know anything more then what the computer asks them). Ask the dealer for a price and availability.

Are you sure your on the right fill plug bolt? It is located on the passengers side and hidden within the fins on the driveshaft side of the axle. Clean the crap out of there with a screwdriver, then spray everything out with brake cleaner, then Spray that bolt with PB Blaster. Tap the bolt, srpay and tap, spray and tap. PB Blaster will penetrate into the threads and eat the rust. Tapping it speeds the process along. To tap, just use the back of your rachet. Once you do this, slide a length of pipe over the handel of your rachet and use this for extra leverage. Its called a cheater bar. I have several. One is 3' long and one is 18" long. Both of them fit over my 1/2" and 3/8" rachets. If you are still having trouble getting it out, take your truck into a service center and have one of the guys use his impact gun on it. You might need to bring a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer extension. Should only be a couple bucks. Hell bring it to my house and I'll do it for a beer. I'll do the whole thing for a 6 pack.

Gear lube smells really nasty, and is EXTREMELY important. Don't half ass this repair.

well i got it off today with my friend, we cleaned it up and found it only had 1 small tiny hole, so we put JB weld on it, let it dry, then we drilled a 1/4 size hole in the cover to put the oil in through... which one of you guys recommended, i did that and but i have one final problem...how the hell are u spose to fill it with oil ...theres just no room in the back of my truck to hold the big oil bottle up and poor it in...