Super A Newbie Question Rearend

1. I drained the rear end of my SA and it came out the color of creamed coffee and had the texture of melted ice cream. It was foamy and foaming more as it hit the bucket. I was given the rest of the 80W-90 they had used and it says "for limited slip systems". Is that ok in the rear of a SA? I thought rear end oil had anti foaming agents?

2. According to Hugh the rear capacity is 5qts. transmission and 3 qts. each final drive. That makes a total of 11qts. or 2 3/4 gal.
Does that all go into the hole in front of the shifter?

3. If a SA trans is overfilled will it cause a leak from the bottom

4. There are 3 weep holes on the bottom rearend housing that are not threaded for a plug. 2 on the left/center and 1 on the right. Seems like a lot of dirt and crud get up in there. Are those supposed to be plugged with a cork?

Thanks,
Dell

1. It was that color because it has moisture in it. I don't know any reason why "limited slip" gear lube would not be OK. It would sure be better than the lube that is water contaminated.

2. That is only an estimate. It may be a tad high for a total. NO! it does not all go in the hole in front of the shifter. The transmission fill check plug is on the lower left-hand side of the transmission, behind the left side brake rod. It looks like a small pipe plug. Put oil in until it starts to come out that hole, then stop. Each final drive has a plug in the casting toward the fron of the drive. That is where you both check the level and add more. The only way to drain the drive is to remove the pan on the bottom of it.

3. If you over fill the transmission, it will leak out the seals where the differential shafts exit the differential and run out small drain holes in the bottom of the differential shaft housing.

4. Thos are the holes that oil will come out if you put too much in the transmission. Do Not plug them.

1) The limited slip additives won't hurt anything. 80-90w is fine. There's probably some anitfoaming agents in the oil, but the foam you're getting is not at all unusual. It indicates water in the oil, usually from years of accumulated condensation.

2) 5qts go into the transmission/differential through the fill plug ahead of the shifter. For the final drives, they take 1-1/2 quarts each, for a total of 3 qts. The fill plug is on the inside of each final drive, ahead of the axle, in the casting maybe 1/2" above the lip of the pan. Unless they've been replaced, it should have a recessed square head. (Same size plug, I believe, as the fill plug on top of the tranny) This is where the pointy snout on the quart bottles of gear oil comes i handy to nurse it in there. Correct level if just topping off is until it just starts to run out the fill hole.

3) Over filling the tranny can cause a leak, even from a good seal. The seals in question are in the sides of the tranny box, right where the differential shaft passes out to the final drives. The seals are made to hold residual oil on teh shaft, not to hold back a reservoir of oil, so even a good one on a good shaft can leak some if overfilled. A bad one will leak in any event, and the leak will appear from the weep hole at the botttom of the final drive on the left or the inner end of the diff shaft housing on the right.

To prevent overfilling (you could have a quart's worth of sludge in the bottom of your tranny and dumping 5 quarts of new in will over fill it), use the level check plug. It's on the side of the tranny, at the left front. The brake rod is probably in the way, but you'll see it. Pull that plug (should be a square head) before filling and fill from the top just until it runs out the check plug. If you've got a known five quarts of oil to put in, any you have left over once you reach the full point will give you an idea of mow much sludge you have in there.

4) If we're thinking of the same weep holes (the two I described above and one at the outer end on the right, where the final bolts up to the diff shaft housing, no, you dont want to plug them. They're weep holes. They will accumulate crud, especially if you have any oil leaking from the seals at the tranny or the seals where the outer ends of the two differentail shafts (A significant leak from the seal on the final drive indicates a seal in need of replacement). Just take a hook or a wire and keep them open. Worst case in plugging them is that any oil leaking in from any source will puddle up and could saturate your brake linings, so keep those holes open.

HTH

Sorry Dave, didn't mean to step on ya. I'm too long-winded. You had it done and sent while I was still typin'.

Thanks Dave & Scotty,
The approx. 1" plug above the sidedresser sprocket
is the one I got about 2 1/2 gal of fluid out of.
They said it wasn"t leaking before the grandson changed it. (He is another 27 year old financial parasite whiner that hasnt worked a day in his life,, but dont get me started on that)
So I hope that after I drain it and clean it up it won"t leak anymore.
Maybe I will run some kerosene throught the trans to clean it up a bit.
I am going to use your info to find the trans level plug and go from there.
Thanks,
Dell

You might have to save the photo and enlarge it to see the plug I am referring to.
The white arrow is where I marked a weep hole.

The picture didn't blow up well for me, but if that 1" plug above the sprocket is on the side of the tranny, at the very bottom rear of the right side, that is indeed the drain plug. There's really nothing else around there that holds fluid so that pretty much has to be it.

You're on the right track. Find that level plug and try refilling it with kerosene or diesel until it's at the right level, like we described. Run it around a little bit, enough to warm the tranny up some, which will help the kerosene cut any soft, congealed waxy type sludge. It will be somewhat imprecise, but measure as best you can how much kerosene you put in to bring it to full, and again how much you get out when you drain the kerosene. If it takes close to five quarts going in or if you get close to five quarts back out, you'd be fine to just refill with gear oil. If you're only getting 2-1/2 or 3 quarts back out you should think about lifting the shifter and going in for a little old fashioned scraping and scooping to get some of the hardened sludge out of there. If you do have to go that route (it's not a bad or scary job lifting the shifter) just a manual dousing with some more kerosene to flush the loose bits out the drain hole would be in order. A turkey baster is great for getting kerosene into tight spaces.

As far as the weep holes, the one you point out is one of those we were describing. There should be another one just like it out at the far right end of the shaft housing, and the one on the left will be hard up against the transmission box.