Front differential

****Update: shop said bring it back and we will see what’s going on. Get a call this morning and the shop owner says the front seal on the transfer case is leaking. Quotes a price of about $200. Mind you I can't raise my arm from shoulder surgery so doing it myself is out of the question. I ask if there was any sign of it leaking when I brought it in, "No". I said I drove it home 20 miles, all highway and get home and it is leaking, that is questionable. He states that they didn't do anything with the transfer case. I ask if they took the front drive shaft out to replace the differential? "No. It rested on the cross member." I asked how did they get the differential out without taking out the front cross member.... "Well there's not much weight there, so it hanging couldn't have broken the seal. I really don't think that we caused it but I can't rule it out."

Bottom line they are replacing the seal. I agreed to pay $100 as I can't prove they caused it and he can't prove they didn't.*****


Let me start with I’m not a mechanic and I recently had shoulder surgery so replacing my front diff myself was out of the question. I had a local (and I hear a solid, reputable shop) replace it for me. New OEM front diff.
Driving it home, it felt and sounded “off”. The RPMs never got above 3k even at highway speed but it felt and sounded like it was wound up much higher. I pull into the drive and hear a thud. Get out and look underneath the truck and the transfer case looks to be leaking and looks like there is fresh TC fluid all over the underside all the way back to the rear axle.

Looking for some advice. I’ll be calling the shop in the morning.

 

Yikes. Could be a bunch of things wrong with the install. Hopefully they'll stand by their work and set it right.

 

I’d go out and see if you can turn the front drive shaft in 2WD.
Maybe the A.D.D or Transfer case is stuck?

 

There is 12 months 12k mile warranty on parts/labor.

 

Have the shop tow it back and fix it.

 

Update: shop said bring it back and we will see what’s going on. Get a call this morning and the shop owner says the front seal on the transfer case is leaking. Quotes a price of about $200. Mind you I can't raise my arm from shoulder surgery so doing it myself is out of the question. I ask if there was any sign of it leaking when I brought it in, "No". I said I drove it home 20 miles, all highway and get home and it is leaking, that is questionable. He states that they didn't do anything with the transfer case. I ask if they took the front drive shaft out to replace the differential? "No. It rested on the cross member." I asked how did they get the differential out without taking out the front cross member.... "Well there's not much weight there, so it hanging couldn't have broken the seal. I really don't think that we caused it but I can't rule it out."

Bottom line they are replacing the seal. I agreed to pay $100 as I can't prove they caused it and he can't prove they didn't.

 

I’ve got a new frame and without a doubt you can take out 4 bolts and remove the center portion of my frame crossmember. It would make the job of removing the differential much easier and I think they did.

I just picked the truck up and the speedo wasn’t working and check engine light was on. Turns out they were running it in gear on the lift to get it to leak. That sent error messages and shut off Speedo and ABS.
They fixed it but come one. They just keep creating problems. Never again will I use that shop.

 

***Update***
Got home and looked under the truck... leaking again from the transfer case.
I’ll be at their door first thing in the morning.

 

Update: And my patience is being tested further. These guys cracked my transfer case and that is the cause of the leak.

They are getting a new one and replacing it at no cost.

not happy with these clowns.

 

How in the F*** did they manage that? These guys are a real piece of work.

 

Wow. What the heck?

 

"reputable shop"

ha

 

They tried to say that the wobbly harmonics from a loose pinion in the differential may have caused a stress fracture and that it expanded from there. I called them on it and said that it was very coincidental forward to occur only after they fixed The differential that the crack appeared. They admitted that there was no sign of a crack or leak before they took out the differential.

Does anyone have any idea what it would take to crack the differential case?

I say reputable shop based on the fact that he has Seemed to be honest, not take on extra work, and to honor up to their mistakes and not charge me for them. I think he’s an honest review a man but I think his mechanics suck

 

Crack the Differential Housing or Transfer Case?
Yes, you could bust the Differential Housing if you smacked it on a something.
This has been known to happen and even more so if you run a diff drop kit.

As for the Transfer Case, not really?
Not unless you were to use the Transfer Case as a lift point?
Stranger things have happened? But I can’t think of an easy way right off hand?

 

This thought occurred to me. Single post hoist ended up hitting the transfer case?