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Front Diff stuck to Oil Pan

20K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Bubba81 
#1 ·
Can anyone offer any tips on separating the front differential from the oil pan? Mine is REALLY stuck on there and I've tried a number of things.

I know there are only 4 bolts that hold the diff to the oil pan and I've removed all 4.

I've pried using a pry bar, but I don't want to use too much force in fear of cracking something. I've also tried prying evenly on both sides. I've even hammered the differential towards the driver side with a wood block in between. I've also sprayed some penetrating oil where the diff inserts into the oil pan. I'm working off of jack stands, if I had a hoist I might be able to get more leverage.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Have you been able to remove the axle lock mechanism off of the passenger side of the pan? If so, then you have the axle stub sticking out of the right side still in the left side differential. You could use a block of wood and a hammer on the stub but you should have a friend ready to catch the diff when it pops out of the oil pan. To help, you could spray some penetrating oil (PB Blaster is excellent) to the inside.

Here's another possible idea if all else fails. Can you run the engine? If so, start it and just let it get hot. The heat might expand the oil pan a bit to help the PB Blaster to penetrate more and allow you to remove it.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the tips!
I did have the passenger side all ready to go. The shaft going through the oil pan was out along with the actuator assembly. PB blaster was also used.

My engine was cold at the time and the thought of heat did go through my mind. I drained my oil already so I wouldn't have been able to start my engine.

I'll have another go at it hopefully this weekend and I'll try warming up the engine right before I get to this step. Fingers crossed!
 
#4 ·
alright, I got the SOB out! Using a pickle fork and a 3lbs hammer. I only had one pickle fork, so I had to take turns wedging it in the front side and back side evenly. It was quite the fight! There was a lot of corrosion on the diff and oil pan that I sanded off.

My front diff leak is now fixed and I hope the seal that I used fixes it for good. The black gunk build up from the pictures below is exactly where the leak was coming from. I scraped it off, lightly sanded around, and used black gasket maker.



 
#5 ·
That should do it. I also had some white corrosion between the diff and oil pan but yours sounded really bad. Good job!
 
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