Diff guards and corrosion.

Having just replaced the oil in both diffs, I notice the diff pans have substantial corrosion.
Now I reckon what is happening is that the diff guards are trapping water and mud which is corroding the diff pans at a ridiculously fast rate. Particularly around the clamping area. The guards do have a drain hole, put that gets blocked almost immediately with mud.
I reckon the diff pans need a damn good wire brushing, a good thick coat of hammerite and then the refitting of the guards with a huge dollop of vaseline to try and eliminate the ingress of water.

Wot do yu guys do - anything - or just trust to luck?

You deffinatly want to try and cure it some way, dont want you diffs corroding thru, do you go anywhere where you need diff guards? like over rocks?

snot a q of whether I need diff guards or not - its a q of how to stop the blurry diff pans corroding due the trapped moisture between the guards and the pans?

careful wire-brushing yer diff pan - mine started leaking when I did that, whereas it wasn't leaking afore.

yup, i agree with tinny, landy diff pans are renown for rusting through thats why they are so cheap to buy replacements, if you decide to wire brush it off, get yourself a tube of chemical metal at the ready if there is a seepage. its a bastard of a job to replace em as you have to drop the diff and seam weld it all the way around once you have cut the old one off. i needed mine doing on my series and decided it was easier to just swap the axle

I exactly what you mean, i took mine off to remove mud etc and the pan started leaking oil, the mud was stopping it leaking.

Welded it with a mig, some very thin metal, cleaned all the rust off, repaint. Put guards back on, pay attention with power washer now

interesting...

yella said:

yup, i agree with tinny, landy diff pans are renown for rusting through thats why they are so cheap to buy replacements,

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I have had quotes up to £300 to fit a new diff pan - hence the "welder wanted" fred.

Get a can of marine paint £15 for a litre - the best paint I have ever seen. Its designed to be in salt water all the time - so there is my reasoning - good cleaning, galavafroid or red oxide then a good coat or two of marine paint (good for bulkheads too) let it dry for about a week before putting the guards back on.

only problem with marine paint(i used to work at a place that made it to order) is that it isent hardwaring..

yes it's saline protective to an extent but isent designed for hitting stone's and rocks(ship's and boat's tend to sink if they do)

so wouldent give the chip protection that a more hardwaring paint like hammerite does

it may look great and be water resilient but if it's chipped to fcuk the first time out playing you have wasted your time and money as the job would need to be done again or suffer the same fate it was before you painted it..

spudy said:

so wouldent give the chip protection that a more hardwaring paint like hammerite does

.

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Yur the paint expert, but I found hammerite fakes off after a few months unless you get all the rust off.

Catch 22, rub off the rust and more holes appear

welshlaner said:

Yur the paint expert, but I found hammerite fakes off after a few months unless you get all the rust off.

Catch 22, rub off the rust and more holes appear

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wouldent call meself a paint expert.....but

what you posted would happen with any paint..

if you don't prepare and clean the area to be painted correctlly then no paint will bond correctlly and give ****e results to boot...

but thats more common sense than expertise...

daft, why dont you just buy a cheap axle off flea bay, get a new diff pan welded on while its off the car and then beg marcus to come an help yer to swap the axle over

spudy said:

wouldent call meself a paint expert.....but

what you posted would happen with any paint..

if you don't prepare and clean the area to be painted correctlly then no paint will bond correctlly and give ****e results to boot...

but thats more common sense than expertise...

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True, but it sometimes is a bit of an "art" removing thick rust, grine, rub to hard, hammer too hard to get scale off, and the metal becomes too thin.

Sometimes its best just to leave it.

Then theres those paints which claim don't need to get all the rust off, just scale.

spudy said:

only problem with marine paint(i used to work at a place that made it to order) is that it isent hardwaring..

yes it's saline protective to an extent but isent designed for hitting stone's and rocks(ship's and boat's tend to sink if they do)

so wouldent give the chip protection that a more hardwaring paint like hammerite does

it may look great and be water resilient but if it's chipped to fcuk the first time out playing you have wasted your time and money as the job would need to be done again or suffer the same fate it was before you painted it..

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Aye but hes got a bloody great lump of metal over it...

Having said that, the stuff I use is deck paint without the chips... its like enamel and takes a fair beating before it chips.

what it the maker of diff guards supplied a rubber seal for between the diff guard and diff pan??? this might help with my research this mate.

Going along the lines of what RAZ is saying, I guess you could stick a load of high quality silicone sealant in round the edges once it’s been given a good couple of coats of paint.

get a diffguard modded so its not so close to the diff. that way the **** will have more chance of falling orf and/or getting washed orf

yella said:

daft, why dont you just buy a cheap axle off flea bay, get a new diff pan welded on while its off the car and then beg marcus to come an help yer to swap the axle over

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yup - that is an obvious option - but not necessarily the easiest. It doesnt stop the problem re-occuring.
As for design - there are two (to my knowledge) designs.......





the first, and most common, type seems to have a built-in mud collector box.

Useful comments tho folks - keep em coming.

Just in case anyone is after a new rear axle - check this and this out