Item recovered from Diff drain ???

[Proshop]

I was draining the diff fluid and I found a broken 1/8 allen flush head screw head on the magnet. I couldn't find anything in the manual except how to pull the whole housing, I guess the info i need is in one of the other manuals. What the heck is this screw head from ?

Pre- Thanks

 

[xlrashn]

picture?????

 

[Proshop]

Pics
http://forums.viperclub.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6494&stc=1&d=1265298790
http://forums.viperclub.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6497&stc=1&d=1265298790

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Pics
http://forums.viperclub.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6494&stc=1&d=1265298790
http://forums.viperclub.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6497&stc=1&d=1265298790

Could be an attaching fastener from the internal fluid pump?

 

[Martin]

What year car is it, and is it the stock diff or aftermarket?

 

[Proshop]

It is a 04 and the rear is stock to my knowledge. I did notice two 1 inch weld beads on the bottom of the diff, not sure if that is relevant.

 

[Viper Specialty]

That is one of the allen screws that holds the hydraulic section of the carrier together.

Time for a diff....

 

[Proshop]

Ok.. Not what I want to hear.

Q1: Do you have a schematic so I can help visualize it?

Q2: By "diff" you mean housing? The diff itself? Or the pump?

Q3: Is it ok to drive or do I mark it an inoperable ?

Q4: What causes this issue? Wheel hop?

Thanks...

 

[j-rho]

That's weird. Looks like that is one of the 4 small screws that holds the cap of the diff to the main cast part. What makes it weird, is I believe the bolts holding the ring gear and everything together, "captures" those screws, leaving them no way to back out. Could be a ring gear bolt has backed out too.

Sounds like the diff needs to come out soon. You must do what you feel is right, but if it were me I'd probably feel OK driving it to the shop so long as it wasn't making any horrible "loose bolt floating around in here" sorts of noises.
Here's a pic:

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Proshop]

ok I see the screws, the 4 holes in the plate and the 4 holes in the housing. Which side of what do the screws go into? I do not see the counter sunk holes where the screw heads sit in. Is it possible that one of the screws got over torqued?

 

[j-rho]

Screws go into the back side of that piece in the above photo, below is the same piece flipped over. Notice that the head of the ring gear bolts really ought to trap the little allen bolts well enough, that they shouldn't be able to escape.

You must be registered for see images attach

Good luck with the repairs.

 

[eucharistos]

fine answers all

this site rocks

 

[Proshop]

J-rho, thanks a million for the pics. I see three holes and I am assuming that the forth is also covered/retained by the ring gear bolt heads. What are those screws purpose ?

All the thought I have of this being able to happen involve a lot of damage or a second coming christ. I don't see the ring gear bolt backing out and the head of this little screw just magically breaking without more carnage around it.. The fluid looked good. What gives?

Has anyone ever seen/heard of this before?
The car seemed fine before I drained the diff, what the heck could have lead to this?
If I pull the cover, could i see all the bolts?


Once again everyone thanks for the knowledge and responses. What a crappy way to get my first 7 posts..

 

[j-rho]

Proshop, the stock Gen 3 diffs are woefully inadequate for hard racing-type use in the Viper. They were originally designed by Dana as highly streetable but still off-road-worthy diffs for the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Between personal experience and in reading the experiences of those here, I have seen failures in just about every manner - cracked cases, broken spider gears, prematurely worn clutches, etc. It doesn't always seem to take racing use to cause a failure so don't blame yourself or your maintenance schedule. I haven't seen your particular thing happen before but if you get it apart you might find it the symptom of a greater but more common problem.

Wheel hop sends massive shock loads through the drivetrain, it would certainly be something to avoid doing if longer diff life is an objective.

You can't really "pull the cover" the way you can in a live axle car. Easiest just to pull the whole thing out. If your diff looks ok but you end up replacing it anyway, I wouldn't mind sending you a few bucks for it, I could always use another spare...

 

[Proshop]

What exactly do they do?it looks like they go through the ring and into the carrier? are they alignment screws? The ring bolts also do the same thing..

 

[j-rho]

They do "key" the hydraulic component of the diff to the main case. You can see the screw hole at roughly 12 o-clock in the pic is on the opposite side of the ring gear hole vs. the other three, so the pump part can only go on in one orientation to the main case. I suppose those screws also serve to hold everything in the diff together when it leaves Dana, before it gets the ring gear installed.

 

[Boxer12]

Speaking of diffs, how good are the Gen IV's?

 

[Newport Viper]

Speaking of diffs, how good are the Gen IV's?

time will tell......

 

[Proshop]

Ok up next...

3 weld spots...

Why are these here !? Anyone seen this before?

 

[Viper Specialty]

What.... The.... Hell....?

There does not appear to be any ryhme or reason to the pattern other than being on the ring gear side... but I have the feeling when you get in there... you are going to find a mess, or at least the signs of a MASSIVE mess at one point.

 

[All Blue ACR]

Something has come apart inside there before, tried to get out and almost did

 

[Proshop]

(sigh)

Well tomorrow I will head to the dealership to pick up a set of jumper cables..


To hang myself..

 

[steve911]

I know in '03 and some '04's there was an issue with the spyder gears being over heat treated and becoming brittle. I had one come apart personally. Mine did not crack the case like your appears to have, but the inside got all chewed up though from parts going around.

Kinda reminded of a spoon that accidently went down the garbage disposal. It looks all gnarly.

John B will corroborate the spider gear issue.

Steve A.

 

[SHELBYVIPER]

Whats the history on the car? Looks like it may have had some type of cooler set up at one time. May have seen some serious track time.