Question on metal filings!

[nkruse]

So, I bought my truck a few months ago. Nice condition, well taken care of but was completely stock. I talked to previous owner and he said he had transmission built with heavy duty parts for towing and at the same time he went through and replace ring and pinion, seals, bearings in rear end at same time. I am and have done some upgrades but just want a good maintained reliable truck. Sorry I am going on and on but getting back to having rear end redone. When I changed the rear differential speed sensor today I pulled old one out and there were metal filings on the piece that sits inside the rear end. I thought maybe from before it was redone. So I put new one in and didnt put any oil on o-ring so I pulled it and put some oil on o-ring and noticed metal shavings on new sensor end. Do you think there is some wear already on new rear end or leftover from when they redid the rear end and obviously didnt clean it out very well? Not sure how that sensor is set in there to know if its from before or now? There is 10,000 miles on tranny rebuild and rear end. The only thing I have pulled is a boat and smaller trailers under 5,000 lbs.

[Mopar1973Man]

Most likely the metal is from a previous problem and it wasn't cleaned... So I would replace it and then keep an eye on the rear diff oil and the plug magnet and see if there is more metal showing up.

[nkruse]

I will watch it and see what happens. Guess if nothing else I will pull cover off, drain oil, and try to clean and refill.

[Mopar1973Man]

Might not be a bad idea... It might give you a peek in side look around for any damage. It could be that the metal was up in the axle tubes and now has flushed out?

[c farmer]

I would think that with a new ring n pinion that maybe you would get a little metal untill they get seated together.Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[dripley]

I would think that with a new ring n pinion that maybe you would get a little metal untill they get seated together. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I was wondering about that myself. I was also wonderting if the clutches in the limited slip would generate anything.

[nkruse]

Thanks guys, just hoping it doesn't mean anything bad.

[MnTom]

If there is metal coming off the ring and pinion there is something wrong. Either they were not set up properly or a bearing is failing or something. You NEED to pull the rear cover and see where the metal is coming from. The longer you let it go the worse it is going to be. Is there any noise that you can hear from the rear end? Howling under acceleration, deceleration, etc. all indicate different problems.

[nkruse]

If there is metal coming off the ring and pinion there is something wrong. Either they were not set up properly or a bearing is failing or something. You NEED to pull the rear cover and see where the metal is coming from. The longer you let it go the worse it is going to be. Is there any noise that you can hear from the rear end? Howling under acceleration, deceleration, etc. all indicate different problems.

No, I don't hear any noise. I will just have to pull the cover off just to take a look and make myself feel better. Thanks.

[Wild and Free]

Is it like silt or actual shavings? Silt like material is 100% normal unless the magnet is piled with it, if there is a nice ring of silt around the outside edges of the magnet I wouldn't worry. If its more than that like chunks or flakes pull the cover clean it out and inspect.

[thracing]

if you got metal you got problems get the cover off have a good look metal= its eating itself up

[nkruse]

Is it like silt or actual shavings? Silt like material is 100% normal unless the magnet is piled with it, if there is a nice ring of silt around the outside edges of the magnet I wouldn't worry. If its more than that like chunks or flakes pull the cover clean it out and inspect.

Some metal shavings on the end that sticks in the rear end of the speed sensor. I havent pulled the plug yet but am going to just to make sure. I just wasn't sure how the speed sensor sits in the rear end if they would have cleaned that off when they redid the rear end? I am pretty sure the speed sensor wasn't changed when the rear end was redone. I just wanted to clear up the shavings wasn't on the plug magnet, it was on the end of the speed sensor. Thanks guys!

[dripley]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought here and I am by no means an expert on rear ends. It seems to me with any new metal parts wearing together you are going to see some wear that would generate some metal particles that would be small in nature like W&F is describing. I dont know if the clutches in the limited slip would contribute to the shavings. Do they wear similar to an auto tranny's clutches.On the other hand if you are seeing chunks of metal or large particles i could see that being of concern. So maybe someone has some pics to get an idea of what is normal and what is abnormal. I agree with removing the diff cover and see whats inside. So nkruse while you are in there take some pics and show everybody what you find. You can help give us all an education.

[thracing]

metal big or small new or old =no good it will be eating up the ring and pinon and all the bearings if he has any metal at all he needs to pull the cover before it makes a real mess and drives up the cost of repair

[Wild and Free]

metal big or small new or old =no good it will be eating up the ring and pinon and all the bearings if he has any metal at all he needs to pull the cover before it makes a real mess and drives up the cost of repair

It is 100% normal to see a small amount very fine iron silt. Like I posted earlier if it is heaped on the magnet of the diff cover or the speed sensor which is magnetized as well then its time to inspect.

[dripley]

Would that be similar to what you see on the magnet in the pan of an auto tranny?

[thracing]

metal big or small new or old =no good it will be eating up the ring and pinon and all the bearings if he has any metal at all he needs to pull the cover before it makes a real mess and drives up the cost of repairwas not talking silt metal big or small

[Wild and Free]

Would that be similar to what you see on the magnet in the pan of an auto tranny?

Yep! some Silt is ok, excessive silt, flakes or chunks are not. Usually if you get to excessive silt you will have flakes starting to show up.

--- Update to the previous post...

metal big or small new or old =no good it will be eating up the ring and pinon and all the bearings if he has any metal at all he needs to pull the cover before it makes a real mess and drives up the cost of repair

was not talking silt metal big or small

Silt IS small metal when its stuck to the magnet or magnetized sensor.

[nkruse]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought here and I am by no means an expert on rear ends. It seems to me with any new metal parts wearing together you are going to see some wear that would generate some metal particles that would be small in nature like W&F is describing. I dont know if the clutches in the limited slip would contribute to the shavings. Do they wear similar to an auto tranny's clutches. On the other hand if you are seeing chunks of metal or large particles i could see that being of concern. So maybe someone has some pics to get an idea of what is normal and what is abnormal. I agree with removing the diff cover and see whats inside. So nkruse while you are in there take some pics and show everybody what you find. You can help give us all an education.

I absolutely will pull the cover off tomorrow night so hopefully by this time tomorrow night I will have pics posted and you guys can tell me what you think. Thanks for everyones input!

[nkruse]

Well I finally pulled the cover off the rearend to check out the metal filing issue. Here are some pics to show you guys and get your opinion. I looked and ran my finger along the bottum inside of the rear end and never had any filings on my rear end. I do want opinions on what you see, I know my pics are alittle fuzzy!

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