Had some noise this morning when making turns (load clunks)

Pulled the cover and drained the fluid, and I found these two pieces, along with some small pieces maybe the size of a grain of and.

Any idea what gave out?

The ring and pinion gears look fine, but the rear has chattered pretty often making sharp turns over the past 2 years.

3:23 factory posi rear, never had work done to it except for a fluid change in the mid 90's.

I'll pull the axles out tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

Surely can't be good. I would expect a full rebuild is in order but it's difficult (for me) to tell what those pieces are without a better close up pic.

Generally speaking, pieces large enough to distinguish with the naked eye is a bad sign from any drivetrain component.

I would be ready with a new torsen carrier in 28 spline, new axles, R&P of your choice, and a bearing/seal/crush washer kit. It is unlikely, given the pieces, and the noises that have been going on for years, you'll be able to salvage anything but the housing. Such is the way of the (especially early) 10 bolt.

GD

 

Those parts look like pieces of one of the pinion gear thrust washers, or possibly part of a bearing cage. The Auburn differential that was used in those cars was bad about chattering when turning corners. I would say that yours needs to be replaced.

You might be able to get by just replacing the differential. I wold recommend the Eaton Posi, Eaton Truetrac or the Yukon Dura Grip. These are pretty popular limited slip differentials and will work with your 3.23 gears. I would not recommend another Auburn.

Here are some instructions on replacing the differential. See post number 2. http://nastyz28.com/threads/change-to-posi.19773/ This is the same for the 7.5 10 bolt.

 

Dug deeper, the pinion shaft bolt was backed out a 1/4". The right axle has lots of play (C-clip groove). The ring and pinion gears appear fine. It lasted almost 30 years behind a SBC 400 and a 4 speed.....

I found a 3:23 open rear still in a 1991 V-6 Camaro in a local pick-a-part yard for $60 including drums and cables. It will get me back on the road for now.

A Powertrax is $400, and an easy bolt i over the winter.

Unless I find a disc brake rear locally......

 

I was pretty sure that those were pieces of a pinion gear thrust washer. The '91 rear end will have 28 spline axles, which is a plus. You could add one of the LSDs that I listed above and make a pretty good rear end. You might not like the noise that the Power Trax makes.

 

Thanks for the advice and good guess on the damage!

 

I cannot recommend the powertrax lock right in your case. Get a nice new posi and rebuild. I had the power trax lock right was happy to go posi

 

Get a Torsen carrier.

GD