Cracked front diff...How the story ends.....

[Racer-X]

Anybody else have there front diff leak...no, make that POUR out fluid!

Let me give you a scenario of what happened to me in the last 24 hours. Friend called, two cars stuck on dirt road to their ranch way back in the mountains. Ask me drive them into ranch through land slides and water coming over the road so that they can get to a backhoe at the ranch to clear the road. So we leave last night, plan to stay overnight and in the morning fire up the tractor and clear the road. The road was in bad shape to say the least. It may not have been at the hummers limits but it was certainly approaching the limit of MY ability. It was rough and the water deep but I never touched ground so damage is not possible. We stayed up too late and drank too much but still rose at 6 a.m. to go look get a look during daylight. We determine we need to go buy some 12 inch pipe to lay to run the water under the road. AT the building supply place I noticed fluid under the h2 but figured it couldn't be mine, but I checked to be sure and sure enough found my front diff leaking....I'm 60 miles from home!! I called my buddy who was a H2 mechanic and asked what to do. He told me to go buy a bunch of gear oil and limp home. Stop and fill it every 20 miles he says. To make a long story short I will omit the other disasters of the day (that included an ******* cop and a diesel backhoe that ran out of gas).....and tell you that it took me 6 quarts of gear fluid to get home and by the time I got here it was no longer a heavy drip but rather a steady stream of fluid.

Anybody else have this happen? It seems to be coming from the seam in the center of the dif.

[Racer-X]

Anybody else have there front diff leak...no, make that POUR out fluid!

Let me give you a scenario of what happened to me in the last 24 hours. Friend called, two cars stuck on dirt road to their ranch way back in the mountains. Ask me drive them into ranch through land slides and water coming over the road so that they can get to a backhoe at the ranch to clear the road. So we leave last night, plan to stay overnight and in the morning fire up the tractor and clear the road. The road was in bad shape to say the least. It may not have been at the hummers limits but it was certainly approaching the limit of MY ability. It was rough and the water deep but I never touched ground so damage is not possible. We stayed up too late and drank too much but still rose at 6 a.m. to go look get a look during daylight. We determine we need to go buy some 12 inch pipe to lay to run the water under the road. AT the building supply place I noticed fluid under the h2 but figured it couldn't be mine, but I checked to be sure and sure enough found my front diff leaking....I'm 60 miles from home!! I called my buddy who was a H2 mechanic and asked what to do. He told me to go buy a bunch of gear oil and limp home. Stop and fill it every 20 miles he says. To make a long story short I will omit the other disasters of the day (that included an ******* cop and a diesel backhoe that ran out of gas).....and tell you that it took me 6 quarts of gear fluid to get home and by the time I got here it was no longer a heavy drip but rather a steady stream of fluid.

Anybody else have this happen? It seems to be coming from the seam in the center of the dif.

[RIC-H0]

I know it sounds like a dumb question, but were you sure it wasn't leaking because it was full. not so much full of diff oil, but it may have gotten lots of water in there. The breather hose may have clogged, and had no where to go but blow a seal when the water boiled.
I know it's kinda hind site now, you may have been able to place a heavy seal of RTV around your diff to keep enough fluid in there till you got home.
Sorry to here all this happened. I know what it's like to run into issues like this when trying to help someone else out! It sucks, but what can you do!!!
Ric

[ROX]

Sorry to hear that. What year is your H2?

I had an 03 that had a hairline crack in the diff. Then, one day, while minding my own business on a particularly gnarley trail, it exploded. Apparently it had a hairline fracture where the dowl pins mate one cover to the other. I heard the newer models should not have the same problem. That's just my experience. Good luck.

Where in the world are you in such crappy weather?

[Racer-X]

No such thing as a dumb question Ric. The initial fluid that leaked out did have a very minor amount of water in it. But I don't think enough to cause an issue. I thought of RTV but to get at it I would have had to remove at least the skid plate and I wasn't sure it would work with the amount that was coming out.

H2 Rocks, yep mines a 03. Fortunately I'm under warranty. I wonder if they will change it to the newer diff? Thanks for the info.

I live in sunny Nor Cal...LOL Lately we have had the worst storms in my lifetime. The ranch is in the Napa Valley area which suffered flooding and is rumored to have had 8 inches of rain in one night!!! We cleared 4 land slides and filled in 3 steams crossing the road and the storm was over a week ago!

[ROX]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Racer-X:
No such thing as a dumb question Ric. The initial fluid that leaked out did have a very minor amount of water in it. But I don't think enough to cause an issue. I thought of RTV but to get at it I would have had to remove at least the skid plate and I wasn't sure it would work with the amount that was coming out.

H2 Rocks, yep mines a 03. Fortunately I'm under warranty. I wonder if they will change it to the newer diff? Thanks for the info.

I live in sunny Nor Cal...LOL Lately we have had the worst storms in my lifetime. The ranch is in the Napa Valley area which suffered flooding and is rumored to have had 8 inches of rain in one night!!! We cleared 4 land slides and filled in 3 steams crossing the road and the storm was over a week ago! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
They changed mine at 49k miles, but lucky for me I had taken it in ONCE, and they documented the hairline fracture. It had only previously been dripping very, very slowly, not enough to drip on the driveway, but enough to put spots inside the skid plate. I learned that this was a problem GM knew about but never recalled. They just wait for one to fail, then replace it. I understand some folks have had them fail without ever leaving the pavement. Supposedly they changed the differential covers to prevent this from happening again.

Keep Dry!

[Racer-X]

Thanks again for further info. I hope they fix it next week. I have a trip planned to Reno and really want to take our H2 with all the weather we've been having. I hear the snow up I80 is really bad this year.

[Racer-X]

Well, I pulled the skid plate. Theres what I would call a big crack in the casing.

Something else interesting. Theres writing on it...looks like a sharpie pen. Theres a line drawn on it as if to mark the crack to check it's progress, like you would mark a crack in your plaster/sheetrock in your home. However nobody ever mentioned a crack to me.

I would encourage other 03 owners to to pull the skid plate and inspect for cracks. Mine is on the driver side at about 4-5 oclock in relation to the axle.

[dochummer]

Great....more work to do...

[Racer-X]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dochummer:
Great....more work to do... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry...but better to find it in your driveway on a sunny afternoon while your still under warranty than two years from now when your out wheeling in the mud. That was fun let me tell you, Trying to work on that on a muddy road!

BTW - It's only 10 15mm bolts to remove that plate and have a good look. Also gives you a great chance to polish the plate!

[RIC-H0]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Racer-X:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dochummer:
Great....more work to do... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


BTW - It's only 10 15mm bolts to remove that plate and have a good look. Also gives you a great chance to polish the plate! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Or an opportunity to try and beat the crap out of it with a sledge hammer, and realize how much it actually takes to bend back the skid plate!

[OrangeCrush]

RIC,

Just for the record, there was a bulletin regarding driveshafts and frt diffs. The driveshaft is too short on the H2 (early models, don't know if they eventually fixed it)

Point is, the driveshaft would cause a minor vibration and wear out the tailshaft bushing. Under the bulletin, they were replacing frt diff and driveshaft. I'm in the process of having mine covered under warranty even though I have a liftkit on it.

Anyway, if you can't get it covered under warranty and need a replacement, I have a complete front diff with gears and axles with about 30K miles on it. A new case (empty) cost about 500 bucks because you can't buy the rear bushing, you have to replace the entire one side of the case.

If I can help you, let me know...

HTH's,

Mark

[OrangeCrush]

Or depending on which half of your case is cracked, I have one half leftover in good shape from my original one I replaced. If you need it, it's yours.

Mark

[NoMoGMPG]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCrush:
Or depending on which half of your case is cracked, I have one half leftover in good shape from my original one I replaced. If you need it, it's yours.

Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Case halves are matched sets. The machining of the side bearing saddles is critical, as is the spacing for bearing preload. You might as well toss it.

PM me your VIN, Racer-X, and I'll check your vehicle warranty history for anything related to the diff.

Dave

[OrangeCrush]

RIC,

BTW, the bulletin# for the replacement transfer case and driveshaft is bulletin # 03-04-21-002

The Document ID# is 1252388.

Check it out, hope that helps.

Mark

[Racer-X]

GMPartsGuy, you have a PM. Wait till you see how many times she's been in the shop! Last it was replacing my transmission and cooling system when the tranny cooler blew up into the radiator. *sigh* I love her anyway!

OC, I'm confused. Your talking tranfer case and I'm talking about my front diff. Is there something I should be doing about the transfer case and driveshaft also?

I just want to say thank you guys so much for your help and advice. Your a wonderful resource.

[OrangeCrush]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Racer-X:
GMPartsGuy, you have a PM. Wait till you see how many times she's been in the shop! Last it was replacing my transmission and cooling system when the tranny cooler blew up into the radiator. *sigh* I love her anyway!

OC, I'm confused. Your talking tranfer case and I'm talking about my front diff. Is there something I should be doing about the transfer case and driveshaft also?

I just want to say thank you guys so much for your help and advice. Your a wonderful resource. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

ROFLMAO... I'm such an idiot. I've had so many problems I've forgotten which problem is which.

I am so sorry. The bulletin I quoted is a problem with some H2's and since I've had a frt diff problem AND transfer case, I got my wires crossed.

Anyway, if you decide not to get a new frt diff case from GMPG, let me know. At least the used diff will be a bolt in without having to pay someone to change gears, etc, etc.

A frt diff (assuming it already has gears in it) can be changed in less than 2 hours.

Mark

[DRTYFN]

Once you get a hairline crack, it's only a matter of time until the front diff looks like this.

[DRTYFN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alec W:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DRTYFN:
Once you get a hairline crack, it's only a matter of time until the front diff looks like this. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Does the TC2 still work when that happens? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you get an alignment.