[Mick O'Malley]

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley

My thoughts then turned to the diff so I inserted my vacuum pump into the filler hole and sucked. Nothing, apart from a rusty looking smear of some indeterminate liquid on the pipe's end. I decided a drain hole was needed to further investigate. Jack up, axle stand, 4mm pilot hole, 5mm hole, (Cobalt bits - brilliant!) then 6mm tap. Some more of the above juice seeped out so I screwed in a suitable M6 bolt and pondered the best flushing medium to rinse the inside - any ideas?

As no suggestions were forthcoming I put some broad search terms into Ebay and decided upon STP Engine Flush, which sounded quite aggressive. Scrutiny of the label on its arrival confirmed that its toxicity was akin to that of Ricin - just the job!

Donning my border patrol gloves, I poured half the container into the diff. and rolled the car quickly back and forth about ten metres to ensure the gears had a good rinsing. I left it overnight, repeated the rolling the next day and drained the day after. The crud that emerged dissolved in the juice was disgusting, so I let it drain overnight and repeated the whole process, which was completed this morning. The second draining was almost clear. Result! I filled to the hole with fresh EP80/90 and did a little more rolling to ensure the internals were well coated. It now feels super smooth.

Regards, Mick