I tend to agree. According to the manufacture of the after market kit, the ring & pinion is the culprit, and it was redesigned to cure the typical "whine" people discuss. I've spoken to a number of dealers and others, and moisture has been mentioned as suspect. I've asked, and it seems like nobody has really torn one down that I can find.
The rust is rather a symptom of the presence of moisture. The presence of moisture would indicate, or lead to a lack of lubrication and premature failure of the bearings. According to the Diff Tech I didn't have to change the ring & pinion, but he did note a 8/10000 difference in the pinion measurements. I wanted to do the whole thing, so I could get a good evaluation of the kit. According to the tech, moisture was the reason for the failure.
Some adventurous soul could have the old parts analyzed and determine scientifically what went wrong, I am guessing that would be an expensive deal for an individual, unless someone with that expertise came across the post and was interested.
It is possible that everyone has a different situation, but in general everyone seems to report the same, or very similar symptoms. I plan to start at every other oil change and see how it goes, and if it is coming up clean, then increase frequency, until the sweet spot is found. I find it hard to believe that it could become so contaminated in 15k, but it would be interesting to see what others find.
My differential didn't fail, but gradually was getting louder and louder. As I mentioned, at 75k, the dealer was less than helpful other than to offer to sell me a new one. Putting a stethoscope on it, shortly afterward while on a rack and running the wheels revealed the bearings were making noise. I did not want to run it to a total failure, rather repair it before it totally disintegrated.
The rust is rather a symptom of the presence of moisture. The presence of moisture would indicate, or lead to a lack of lubrication and premature failure of the bearings. According to the Diff Tech I didn't have to change the ring & pinion, but he did note a 8/10000 difference in the pinion measurements. I wanted to do the whole thing, so I could get a good evaluation of the kit. According to the tech, moisture was the reason for the failure.
Some adventurous soul could have the old parts analyzed and determine scientifically what went wrong, I am guessing that would be an expensive deal for an individual, unless someone with that expertise came across the post and was interested.
It is possible that everyone has a different situation, but in general everyone seems to report the same, or very similar symptoms. I plan to start at every other oil change and see how it goes, and if it is coming up clean, then increase frequency, until the sweet spot is found. I find it hard to believe that it could become so contaminated in 15k, but it would be interesting to see what others find.
My differential didn't fail, but gradually was getting louder and louder. As I mentioned, at 75k, the dealer was less than helpful other than to offer to sell me a new one. Putting a stethoscope on it, shortly afterward while on a rack and running the wheels revealed the bearings were making noise. I did not want to run it to a total failure, rather repair it before it totally disintegrated.
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