Diffinitley leaking.

I had left the front axle with the nose of the diff down and, thinking ahead, with an oil pan beneath. I hadn’t paid this much attention until today when I noticed quite how much had leaked out.

I was also quite impressed by the paint within the drive flange. If I had to guess this has not been apart since new, which may explain its incontinence.

I removed the drive flange and tapped the mud shield free, before starting in a little bit of cleaning of the diff and axle casings.

Whilst I had the degreaser out I also cleaned up the sump and timing case ready to get ready for painting. I knocked a couple of dents out of the sump whilst at it. The gasket on the sump was a pig, despite it leaking.

I am still yet to decide if I drill out the front seal mud shield rivets and tap the holes for bolts such that a front crank seal replacement can be down without taking the front off the engine. It makes sense to do it, but it isn’t original.