e36 LSD leak

[jaybags]

Hey guys so when I was aligning my rear toe (I believe this is when it happened) the axel that attaches itself to the rear differential separated at the seal- the closest one towards the diff the pry bar is on the seal that came out. So it was leaking some oil but nothing major. I used a rubber mallet and popped it back in. I used a pry bar to see if it'll separate easily and YES- it does. On both sides! Is this always like this? Or should i worry about it happening again.

Thanks

[Eric93se]

Grab the axle somewhere in the center with your hand, you should be able to move the shaft alot in/out of both ends. If not then the shaft is seized on the ends probably. You should be able to free it up with penetrant, but I don't know where you will be able to spray it in there good.

You will definitely want to top off your diff fluid when you get things figured out. Let us know how it goes and what you find out!

Oh, and welcome to the fourm!

[jaybags]

Yes, there is plenty of horizontal movement in the axel. I topped up the oil and drove it for a bit and all seems to be ok. Why it happened is still the big question for me. But lets hope that was the end of it!


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[flyfishvt]

Pretty sure you didn't pop the seal. You popped out the dif output flange. When this happens you will get a small dribble of dif fluid. Perfectly normal. The output flanges pop out easily. That's normal. They pop right back in. The reason they popped out is because the rear end is off the ground and the wheel/hub assembly has dropped. Once you get the car on the ground everything will return to normal.

[jaybags]

Cool, good to know. Thanks !