It just goes to show you that it is always a good idea to always look over & under your vehicles from time to time. If it weren’t for the fact that my vehicles don’t normally drip fluid, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either problem…
As I posted a few days ago, I had both of my trucks in the garage (separately) to catch up on routine maintenance. I looked over both with a fairly fine toothed comb while they were in there. Just 3 days later and I have a problem with both that was previously not found while in the garage. The Tahoe started leaking at the rear diff cover. After I noticed that, I started driving the K5 until I could get both of them looked at. While out and about I took note of a rather large puddle of gear lube under the front axle of the K5!
The Tahoe was a fairly easy fix (I think). I found two bolts that were loose at approximately the 3 o’clock position on the diff cover. Tightened them back down and cleaned everything really well with some brake clean & a wire brush to make it clear whether I still had a problem or not. Time will tell. I’ll keep a close eye on it over the next few days/weeks to be sure that was it. If not, I’ll pull the cover & install a new gasket.
I had the K5 back in the garage to check out what might be happening with it. The most likely source was the pinion seal, but I did find a blocked breather line (collapsed inside) between the axle and the hard line that then runs up to along the radiator. Cleared that and took it for a test drive. Now, I had just engaged the front hubs in preparation for winter (whenever it decides to get here) so I was driving around with the front end engaged which I rarely do for most of the driving I do with it, so it seems that was throwing around the diff lube, making the seal leak worse than when not engaged. So that’s on the docket for replacement this coming weekend. Here’s to hoping that the pinion bearings are ok (didn’t check that while I was under it today)!