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how far can you drive with empty differential

Not very far. Things will get very hot and it will end badly.

Is this a guess the answer and after awhile you will tell us how far you got question?
 
Finaly got my 84 jimmy with a 208 case on the road a few weeks ago after working on it for 4 years on and off and forgot to fill the tcase.Drove around the block and back home when it started making a noise.Tore it down and the anulas bushing was tosted and the planet asm was scored.Cost like $14 to fix and had an extra planet asm but was extra work I didnt want and was 100 deg out.:o
 
It depends.

I had an '89 Camaro that killed the pinion bearing, which in turn killed the seal. The fluid would leak out in a day of driving. It lasted a few hundred miles, but it was never more than 30 miles at a time. It was very noisy, lol.

I picked up my '79 K30 earlier this year and tried to drive it home. Turns out the front diff was empty. It made it about 50 miles before the pinion bearing seized. It was quiet as a church mouse until it seized.
 
lol not long. I've seen a rear diff seize up and twist the driveline 720 degrees.
 
If you have a 205, 208 or 241 transfer case and locking hubs, you can drive forever in 2WD and an empty front diff. If you have a FF rear, maybe you could get creative with pulling the axle shafts and rear driveshaft to get out in front wheel drive.

If the leak wasn't severe, you might be able to drain some fluid from the front diff and put it in the back.

If you really must drive with no lube in a differential, I would think very low speed and intermittent operation would be key.
 
Before it locks up? A few miles.

Before everything in the diff is ruined? Could be down the block

Having said that, check the pinion for any play and fill it with fluid and see where that gets you.
 
Ive gone a while when I completely forgot about it.. I figured its the front diff... no biggie..

For got about the whole flanges part while I was having too much fun:doah:


On another note.. after you get your arb installed, new bearings and all is well.. do not store your front diff bolts inside the diff for the trip home on the trailer:haha: It was a couple weeks later and I finally stopped driving around with no gear oil.. well I pulled the cover, put on some right stuff but I was missing some bolts.. hmmm:confused:


So I borrowed the bolts from the diff on my 07.. and went wheelin:D Few weeks later and two trips out I got annoyed with a leak and the front felt like it grabbed a time or two.. Pulled the cover and there were some munched and fubared bolts in there in pieces.:eek: The look on my buddies face was pretty good but he has been around a while so he was not too surprised.





That diff cover had some serious marks and really deep groves in it but held up.


Thanks dan:grin:
 
Well I had just took off the back cover so I could paint it and put on a gasket, when I went to remove the fill plug, turned out to be all buggered up and I never did get it off. This morning I was able to fill the diff through the vent plug. At first it didn't want to fill and then after awhile I figured I should poke something in there in case the vent nipple was stopped up. Sure enough just the tiniest amount of pressure and it was free. There wasn't much stopping it up. Then I put a long vinyl tube over it and filled it without having to be under the vehicle. The vise grips didn't work to get the plug off...it's recessed to much. I think everybody is about right on not driving it empty. Anyway I can get to my trainy place now and have them get that plug. I was their fault anyway as the plug was already rounding when they installed it after replacing the pinion seal. Also, he resealed the back cover with silicone only and no gasket and it was still leaking bad. I already had a gasket at home and decided to correct the reseal myself and paint the cover pretty. It's pretty now. I'm gonna find a better kind of plug, I think those recessed GM plugs are crap. And the next time I want to take the cover off, I will remove the plug first!
Thanks everybody.
 
i made it fifteen miles after the ring gear shot bolts through the case,but the diff was toast after i got home.
 
I drove a vehicle about 3 miles about 25 mph with no rear diff oil without problems, I think the rebuilder used a little assembly lube. I seen a dry pinion bearing sieze in 2 minutes, when it locked up, it stopped the engine. It all depends on how dry the gears/bearings are and how hot they get.
 
Are you saying that the recessed square drive in the plug is stripped? Can't you pound a torx bit into the hole or grab it with an EZ-out? You could also weld a bolt to the plug, but it sounds like you've got some oil in it and aren't too far from the shop whose fault this is.
 
Blue85 said:
If you have a 205, 208 or 241 transfer case and locking hubs, you can drive forever in 2WD and an empty front diff. If you have a FF rear, maybe you could get creative with pulling the axle shafts and rear driveshaft to get out in front wheel drive.

If the leak wasn't severe, you might be able to drain some fluid from the front diff and put it in the back.

If you really must drive with no lube in a differential, I would think very low speed and intermittent operation would be key.
Click to expand...

ding ding ding ladies and gentlemen we have a winner.

edit - i had a rear driveshaft u-joint coming apart, put the truck in 4hi, and drove it on the front axle until i got the truck to the dealership to have the joints replaced.
 
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Heres my "empty diff" story!..

One day a friend of mine asks me if I could go with him and another guy,to go pick up some used cars he'd bought at a dealership 55 miles away,in Hyannis MA,on Cape Cod..he needed a driver,I said sure--I needed money and had nothing else to do,so off we went,piled into a Astro Van and went to go get them..

I drove a 99 GMC truck back,following my friend closely ,who was driving a 1983 Impala, "Granny's" car,that was minty looking and had zero rust,and a sweet running 305 with only 44K on it,funny thing was,ALL the other guys bidding on the cars for sale didn't offer even 100 bucks for it--so my friend offered 75 bucks,and the owner of the dealership who was a friend of his says "I should PAY you to take that car,no one wants an antique like that thing!--too bad too,it IS a nice car for its age!"...

So he pays him,and asks if he can borrow a dealer plate to drive it home,and the owner said "wish I could,I already lent them all out"..we had only two dealer plates with us and we weren't sure if you needed them both on the front & rear of one vehicle or not,so we put one on the rear of each vehicle and I follwed him closely --we had done thios many times before and never had any issues with cops,so off we went..

About 15 miles up RT.6,I smelled a strong odor of gear oil,smelled like it was burning on the exhaust..I was praying it wasn't coming from the truck I was driving,that was a rusty '95 GMC plow truck,because it was going to be dark in about an hour,and if all went OK.we'd be "home" by then..

But I noticed at the next stop sign,smoke was coming out from under the Impala--I figured maybe it had an oil leak and it was spraying on the exhaust..no big deal,right??..but when we got on the other highway to head off Cape Cod,I had to drop back several car lengths when another car cut in front of me to take an exit,and it was then I saw a strange sight..my friends Impala had smoke belching out the back,and I swore I saw sparks flying out from under it..as I was trying to catch up to him,I saw the differential was the source of the sparks..and it was glowing a dull orange!..I pulled alongside him and motioned for him to pull over,and he did..

At first he thought I was having mechanical troubles,but I said "NO--YOUR CAR is either ON FIRE,or something is REAL HOT under it..then he said :Hmmmmm..thought I smelled something burning,but I figured it was nothing serious,no warning lights except the "brake" light is on (it had a spongy pedal)..we crawled under the car to see what was going on,and both of us looked at each other when we saw the differential--it was glowing a dull orange color,smoking like crazy--and there was NO diff cover on it!..:eek: :doah:...we opened the trunk to see if there was any water or anything we could use to cool it off,and found the diff cover,all the bolts,and a ratchet with a 1/2" socket on it,and a couple quarts of 10w-30 motor oil..

We jacked it up with the bumper jack,and put the diff cover on as fast as we could,it was almost dark now and misquiitoes were feasting on us..the remains of the gasket for the diff cover was still stuck to the cover and diff,so we just put it on without any sealer,not having much choice..I found a magazine in the truck I was driving and I rolled a few pages into a cone shape and used it as a crude funnel to pour in what we could of the two qts, of 10W-30 we found,but I bet half of it never made it into the diff...my friend got back in it and says "I'm not stopping again till we either get home,or it wont MOVE!"...I folwed him the 35 miles the rest of the way home,when he got to his house he said "the diff is FUBARED,I'm surpised it made it THIS far!"...
then we cracked a few beers and marveled at how bad you can abuse a GM,and still make it home without walking!...he located a good used differential the next day at a local boneyard for 75 bucks..so for 150,he got a nice car,but it would have been NICE if someone at the car dealer had TOLD us the diff cover was OFF it!..One of the mechanics there was "inspecting" the car ,for possible resale,and said the side gear had chowed out the carrier (a common failure on GM's then)--so when he saw that he just pushed it outside into the "wholesale" area ,figuring it would be sold to a scrapper...he laughed when he said "you got HOW far with the cover off"??...and it was ORANGE?..man,that musta been a RUSH!...yeah..just a small one..:rolleyes:..
 
My no oil in a diff story. Out doing some exploring in a stock long bed 76 3/4 ton, backed up hit something but it went forward just fine no problems. Never checked anything

Decided to go home after that. Went about 10 miles on dirt roads at around 30 mph. Then onto a highway for about 2 miles at 55 then out to the interstate. 75 mph for about 5 miles. Rear end locked up solid. We actually had enough speed to skid off the road far enough to get out of the way of traffic. Pullled the shafts and drove home

We had hit a rock and it had put a hole in the diff cover the size of my fist. I have no idea how long oil stayed in it. The hole was at the bottom of the diff cover so it couldn't have been long.

Put a used gearset in that axle and drove it for a while before it got sold
 
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