Betcha never seen this bolt before

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Righty Tighty

Blame it on the dog
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I began hearing some very slight whining from my rear end (different from the normal grumbling my rear makes) :lol: so I decided to have a look and freshen up the gear oil. Well, I noticed a couple peculiar things.

The first was that the differential only had about 1/2 cup oil in it.
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Okie dokie. But the next was that the bolts for the diff cover came out with a “nipple” of blue Loctite.
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Now I’m certainly not a professional mechanic, but I’d say someone put a little too much Loctite on the bolts the last time they reassembled it. What does the peanut gallery have to say?
 
Looks to me like someone thought it works best on the ends and not on the threads.
 
Lotta guys don’t even use a gasket. Just a big bead of silicone and slam the cover on. Common practice. I like a gasket and a thin layer.
 
I never use a gasket. High temp silicone. Thats it. If applied correctly you will bend the cover if you get too rammy trying to remove it.
And the little rubber nipples are common.
If you start all the bolts before tightening them this doesent happen. Have seen lots of stripped bolts too, impact tools used to tighten.
 
You should tear apart a somewhat "modern" axle. You will find the exact same thing.
 
I’ve heard of using RTV in place of a gasket, but this is my first time coming across this on a bolt. My friends, you’ve just witnessed another milestone in my journey.
 
No suprise to me, but im a mechanic by trade. I havent seen a diff cover gasket on any diff i have opened in over 20 years. Ok, maybe 1 or 2.
 
I have seen the old silicone hydraulic and break the case . I always use a pic and air blow out the holes .
 
No suprise to me, but im a mechanic by trade. I havent seen a diff cover gasket on any diff i have opened in over 20 years. Ok, maybe 1 or 2.
Well ****. I used a gasket and a tiny bit of RTV, so if by chance you ever come across this old girl, you’ll see one more. Spose I just thought that’s what I oughta do, since there was a gasket there when I popped it off.

I will say, however, that I didn’t use NEARLY as much silicone as the previous person...
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Should have gone down the center and around the bolts holes. Most of yours is going to wind up “in” the diff.
 
I put a thick bead of the "right stuff"...
I could probably pull the bolts out and never have a leak... LOL..
 
Oh ok, I thought the shiny bead towards the inside of the cover was the one you just ran:thumbsup:

Reminds me of some mopar stuff we used to use on the hemi, was a burnt orange spray can of gasket adhesive , painted both side of all gaskets w/ it / hanging up on a wire , even the .020 steel shim head gaskets , worked great , and wasnt very thick.
 
Reminds me of some mopar stuff we used to use on the hemi, was a burnt orange spray can of gasket adhesive , painted both side of all gaskets w/ it / hanging up on a wire , even the .020 steel shim head gaskets , worked great , and wasnt very thick.
Yup, used that stuff too, and they had an orange silicone sealant that was tough as nails too. Odd Job i think it was called
 
I put a thick bead of the "right stuff"...
I could probably pull the bolts out and never have a leak... LOL..
I hear tons of people referencing the right stuff, maybe I ought to give it a try. I’ve used Permatex high tack with pretty good results, but honestly I need to educate myself a little more on sealants and which applications they’re for, because I feel like I don’t have a solid understanding of what to use and when.
 
I’ve been using Permatex Black gasket maker on anything that would normally require a gasket (except heads) and this for everything else.

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