Kyitty's Humble Build Thread

Who doesn't love the smell of gear oil?

 

Rear end lube*

 

I'll remember that next time you ask me to help pull your CVT off the top...

 

Up there with skunk smell...

Dude, nobody likes a poorly lubed rear... I don't think.

 

Dropped my truck at a new shop today. Place smelled like grease and motor oil. Hopefully that means I'm in the right place.

3rd member coming out and being shipped to @ECGS for repair. Really hoping this is the last time I have to tear my rear diff open again. Getting frustrated.

The guy at this shop was asking all the right questions though. Am I lifted, have we checked drive line angles, have we checked wheel bearings in the rear axle, what oil are we using, what does ECGS recommend, etc.

Fingers crossed.

 

3rd Member now in the hands of FedEx.

Time to wait.

After roughly 200 miles on the fresh Lucas oil there was just enough metal in it to see shiny spots if you stirred the oil with your fingers.

 

Are you sure that the case and/or axles aren't bent/warped? Just hard to believe that it can be so wrong so many times without something else being up.

 

I'm not. But that's my goal with the new shop. Hopefully find out WHY.

 

Been two weeks since I mailed off my Blackstone Labs oil sample. Anyone know how long it usually takes to hear anything back?

 

They decided to recycle all that metal and build a Chevy Colorado.

 

OKay you win the internet tonight. I could not contain that laugh - woke my dog up.

 

Have you been charged yet? I know they don't charge you until your sample has been processed. Maybe the holidays slowed them down a bit?

 

Holy Moley. Blackstone Labs had some ridiculously long timeframe on their paperwork for how long it takes to mail oil samples to them. I blew it off because - seriously it was ridiculous.

I just looked up the USPS tracking number. USPS delivered my oil sample of December 1st, 2017. That's more than two weeks since I mailed it. Montana to Indiana. November 16th @ 1:01pm to December 1st @ 11:30am.

Terrible.

 

Free service that’s why

 

Got my Differential Oil Analysis back from Blackstone Laboratories.

Of note: They list average sample results for gear oil used for 30k miles. I have more iron (203ppm) in my oil at 2,650 miles than is normally seen after 30k miles (178ppm). They note that poor wear could be causing the noise - which we basically already know.


No other contamination or break down of the oil itself was noted. So at least we know I didn't burn up the gear oil. LOL

Waiting for FedEx to get my 3rd to ECGS so they can inspect/repair and ship back.

I miss my truck. This old 2006 Chevy 1/2 ton I'm borrowing from work just isn't the same.

 

Got a call from ECGS today. Lee, who is apparently the head guy on their mechanic team so to speak, called to chat about my 3rd member. It took FedEx forever to get it to them. He finally got it disassembled today. And....


He says there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.


Yes, that's right. The differential that makes constant noise while driving (and has metal in it all the time) is perfect internally. He sees no signs of gear wear, bearing wear, improper break in, etc.


So, he has an employee with a stock Tacoma and was considering putting the diff in that guy's truck to just let him drive around with it and see if it made noise. He is planning to rebuild my diff with new bearings and gears just to rule things out and ship it back to me. He offered to put that diff in this employees truck and break it in for me, etc. However, to break it in safely probably takes at least a week since you can only drive like 40-50 miles at a time maximum.

I've been without my truck for two weeks just to get us to this point - ECGS inspecting it. I'm driving an old retired fleet truck my employer let me borrow. I can't put my kids in it. Have to rely on my ex-wife to bring the kids to me so I can see them, etc. I need my truck back.

So, Lee is going to rebuild the diff himself and ship it to me tomorrow. He says if we put this in and it makes noise again that we need to find the problem somewhere else. Can't be the differential. He questioned whether or not my diff was ever CLEANED between 3rd members. Obviously he's worried we're finding metal that never got cleaned out - which in turn can/will cause wear issues down the road. I had thought of this as well and had already questioned my local shop. They claimed that they spray out the diff with brake cleaner each time they do a fluid change and that they did so when swapping 3rd members. So, assuming that's true... where is the metal coming from?

Very, very much looking forward to having my truck back. But the fact that ECGS finds no sign of wear or any issues with the diff to begin with... doesn't really help.

Once again though - the folks at ECGS seem to be taking care of me. So I'll keep sending business their way.

 

Sweet - Just scored. Advance Auto Parts is doing some special 30% off your first Home delivery order on their website. Just ordered 9 bottles of Lucas 85W-140 Gear Oil at $8.99 each. Total of $80.91 - $24.27 = $56.64 And... all orders over $50 score free shipping.

So I'll have 3QTs to fill the rear diff when it shows, another 3QTs to refill after the break-in. And the other 3 quarters I can use for the front diff and transfer case.

 

I better get in on that, I need to spill and fill my diffs and tcase.

 

Have you thought about a complete and total disassemble of the axle to check every damn piece of it?