Hey guys,
Anyone out there remove their own diff pumpkins? I'm thinking about taking mine off myself and then bringing it to a shop to install a LSD instead of leaving my car there (much more convenient for me). If so, is there anything to watch for? I looked in the service manual, but it doesn't have the exact sizes of the bolts. How's the clearance on the axle bolts? Is there a way to rotate it to get more clearance? Also, the service manual says to replace all the bolts on the axles after removal. Is this necessary? Thanks

 

I did mine several times.....about a 45-60 min job. The axles are easy to unbolt from the differential. Leave the car in neutral with the e-brake off and you can rotate the axles as you remove the bolts/nuts. Make sure to use some wire to hold the axles up and out of the way to keep from stressing the axle boots. I always re-used my axle nuts/bolts with no issues. With the exhaust and the sway bar left in you will have to maneuver the differential a little to get it out. It would be easier to remove the exhaust rear section for sure. Keep in mind I was working on a G35...the 350Z dual exhaust may be a little different.

 

The two speed sensors are held in by the bolts that are next to them? Just want to make sure before I start attempting to take this thing off.

 

yes,be carefull when you do this cause the pumpkin weighs about 90lb,s.when its ready to come out that 90lb,s might suprise you if your not ready for it.

 

Planning to lower it down on a jack. The main drive shaft doesn't need to be suspended like the rear axles? The service manual doesn't say anything abou it.

 

Just thinking out loud here, but if the car is on jackstands, I don't see why you couldn't just ease it down and rest it on the ground. If it's on a lift, then I'd say you should suspend it so you don't stress the tranny or U-joints.

 

Ok, I'm kinda stuck midway through the uninstall. I've removed the diff from the rear axles and front and the bolts are off. Only problems I'm having now are that bolt in the back thats attached to the aluminum diff cover. I don't have the deep socket for it. Anyone know what size it is? Also for the life of me I cant get the breather hose off. Should I remove that with the pumpkin completely unattatched sitting mid air on a jack?

 

I think it was 17mm or 19mm. You should be able to detach the breather hose with a pair of pliers...just clamp and twist.

 

I suspended mine always to avoid stressing the joint/bearing assembly. Better safe than sorry.

 

Hate to bring up an old thread.... These are all rotating parts, I assume that some loctite should be used??

Thanks

 

They are all on lockwashers

 

Thanks, I hadn't looked yet.

 

In case you're thinking about reusing the bolts the SM says to discard, Google "reuse stretch bolts" (without the ""), and do a little reading.

 

I know it's quite controversial, but I have re-used these bolts (torque to yield) on more than one occasion on an old VW diesel cylinder head without any problems, so I am tempted to say that if you want to cheap out, this might be an option for you. I appreciate that it's not a great idea, but if you're strapped for cash, I think this is one way you can save some dough. They key is to evaluate what a catastrophic failure would do to your pocket book in this instance, and decide if it's worth the risk.
Is it a risk? FOR SURE. I haven't done this job, so I don't know how many bolts we're talking about and what would be destroyed or damaged if it went to $hit, but I think that it might be a reasonable risk, considering the cost of new bolts.
Back when I did it, each bolt was $5 and I was putting a non-perfectly fitting 1.6L head onto what might have been a shot block, so it wasn't a big deal. I didn't want to spend the extra $60 on my experiment and a whole new engine would only have been ~$1200. I would NOT have done it if I was playing with a new Cummins, but I took the chance and those things held forever after. If there are multiple bolts holding things together there, your risk is lower, because more than one would have to shear to really start damaging things.
It's a long way from ideal, but evaluate the risk/reward and see what you think.

 

Mine has been out of the car at least 5x times, still using stock bolts. 135k on them now, with heavy track abuse.

 

I reused the bolts. I had noticed the note of caution in the manual, so I used red locktite.