Corroded Diff Casing...

[darkcyde]

Hi all - just had me head under the rear end of my 1996 Toyota Surf preparing for a rear axle seals job, and noticed a glob of white stuff on the bottom of the diff case.

A little prodding and it turns out to be some kind of putty, and there is evidence of oil leakage around the area, so I'm assuming there is a crack or rust hole in the diff casing.  Unfortunately, Toyota deemed it wise to make the diff casing one whole piece along with the axle housing, so a replacement is gonna be very costly.

So, what are my options for repairing it?

Assuming worst case scenario and its a rust hole....could I theoretically use some of that metal putty stuff after removing the worst of the rust and lose crap and cover the hole, and then perhaps paint the entire thing in situ with some Hammerite Direct to Rust to try and reduce the rusts onslaught?  I'm looking to change the oil seals anyway, so not worried about having to drain the fluid....if there is any left of course!

I'm looking at £1500+ for a rear axle change, and the age of the car it's really worth it.

[Rhubarb]

Get it TIG welded?

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2014 17:44:30 GMT 1 Rhubarb said:

Get it TIG welded?

with more putty

[Karl]

Yep that epoxy 2 part quick weld type stuff

[Deleted]

Liquid metal

[Rhubarb]

Apr 9, 2014 13:10:07 GMT 1 @mac57 said:

Liquid metal

Pirate smiley !

[remmington]

Well...

Your choices are between... Chemical metal or cleaning it up and brazing it (it does work well for this type of job).

Your big issue is going to be getting the drain plug out! Heat and beat it with a hammer, this is not fun with limited amount of real metal around it.

I spent hours a few years ago, building up a 70 series Toyota Landcruiser axle with braze. It has lasted another four years without leaks.

Unless the labour is going to be "free". This issue may "right off " the vehicle in question!

[natedog]

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131138852019

any use?

[Noberator]

Apr 10, 2014 20:05:37 GMT 1 natedog said:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131138852019

any use?

Gordon bennett it's old iron.

[darkcyde]

Hi all

Ok, got the window putty out of the way, and the hole is only about 2mm and already had a self tapper in it and was holding back over a litre of fluid.

So, I've drained it all, ground all the rust off and cleaned it all up (the plugs only needed a little heat and a breaker bar to loosen thank god).  Got a slightly larger self tapper, coated it with a suitable gasket maker compound, then covered the entire area with some epoxy metal putty, then painted the whole thing once that was hard.  Looks great now and feels rock solid.

The hubs and axles are with the mechanic having new bearings pressed in, so once he has dropped them back this afternoon I'll be rebuilding it and putting some fresh oil in.  The breather plug had rusted up completely, so the axle seals had blown and flooded the drums with gear fluid.  All cleaned up and ready for the axles to pop back in.

[oli]

It's quite common far Landies to go in the same place and they also have a one piece unit. Hope the self tapper works. I'd probably have welded it but your repair sounds fairly sound, so your nice shiny axle should last a while yet.

There's a company called KAM who make locking diffs. To fit them to a rover axle requires replacing the front of the axle casing (the non driving side I.e rear on the rear) - they advise cutting the old one off then either welding a new flange on for the diff cover or (and I'm sure this is right!) actually gluing the whole flange on!

Oli