question about my diff fluid

[mollyman]

This might be a dumb question but I'll ask anyway. I bought a 14blt from a military supply warehouse. It was unused, still straped in its original crate. There was painting on the crate that indicated the year 1982 and then tied to the axle itself was a card that the only thing on it still readable was the date 1982 so I am assuming it has been sitting in the crate since then. I popped off the cover and there was about 1 maybe 2 quarts worth of fluid in it, the gears were still covered with the yellow marking comound. The fluid stunk, I am assuming because it has been sitting there for so long, so I just let the old stuff drain out and filled it with Lucas and put the cover back on. Then I stared thinking should I be worried about any of the seals that were sitting in that old fluid for so long, will they break down? The oil that was in it did not look like it had broken down and turned "watery" it was still thick. I just wanted some input because I want to do things right. It is straped under my rig and I have done a disc brake conv. on it also. I have not driven on it because I have my body off right now. Any help would be great THANKS

 

[pauly383]

All gear oil smells bad . I would drive it a little while to break it in , then drain it , replace the seals , and refill . It may not leak while you do that .

 

[cbbr]

The seals were fine on mine even though it had been driven 40,000 miles and then left in a field. I can't imagine that yours would be worse. If they don't leak, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[sta500666]

Well first of all its supposed to stink its gear lube!! haha. But I assume you didn't even need to change it, its heavey duty stuff. I change wont hurt anything tho, just make sure it was filled to the top of the spill hole. As far as your seals go, changing them isn't too hard. If any have dryed and cracked you will notice them leaking imediatly upon driving in around for a day. The seals to look at are the pinion and the 2 on the hubs (one on each hub). Hub seals are an easy change just make sure to tighten the hub back up correctly. CHanging the pinion requires marking its original position with a scribe and then using a really long breaker bar to break that SOB loose!! I recomend getting a Haynes auto manual to guide you through.