Rear Diff

[ya-wanna]

I noticed that my rear diff. was getting extremly hot, so I pulled the cover expecting to find water in the oil but it wasn't bad the oil was starting to break down, changed the oil and it still gets hot, is this normal or do i have a serious problem here Any suggestions would be apreciated.

[Bnine]

Depends on what really hot is to you. It should get hot, but not hot hot enough to sizzle spit technically speaking.

What fluid did replace the old stuff with?

The rear diff needs synthetic, or regular 80-90 with a friction additive because of the limited slip. If you didnt do one of those it could heat up more then normal.

[ramtuff]

If your diff is really hot you could have bearing damage. I would do an indepth inspection. Pull the carrier out and check the pinion bearings too.

[ya-wanna]

Ya its not hot enough to sizzle spit, but would be very uncomfortable to leave your hand on it for any length of time.
 I replaced it with 80-90 gear oil, I'm not hearing any noises coming from it. It just seemed hotter than I thought it should be.

[ramtuff]

do you have a lift? is your rear pinion adjusted from the factory position? Are you getting a full 2 litres of gear oil in your diff? these are all factors in your diff temp. Rubicons do run hot, I've measured the housing with a surface temp gun at about 80-85 degrees celcius. When they brake-in they run about mid 70's celcius.

[ya-wanna]

That sounds about what it is running at now so I think I'm going to get down off the ceiling now. Thanks alot guys I apreciate the help

[Sharp]

there is lot of friction in there and you are bound to get stuff hot, it sounds like it's normal, but sure did get me worried the first time i checked mine too...