SpitfireS

Do you really want any foam, large or small, inhere?

Or inhere?

The insides being oily would actually help you trap the foam parts.
Pull the cover off, put it on a bench, get out the tweezers and tweez away

Anyway.. that is what I would do.
But I guess I allready mentioned that.

Another side note: it may be "just foam" , but crushed it could turn into a "sand like" substance, depending on the foam of course.
It would never be caught by the magnetic drain plug so fine particles will stay in suspension.

GPW03

The first pic you posted is exactly where all of the foam/debris sits. The fact that there is oil/grease in there is making it stick and would be hard for me to remove. If the debris has a chance to get into pic 2 then im really worried now.

I paid good money for this part, and am trying to sort it out with the vendor. I honestly don't feel comfortable installing the one I received.

xviper

Styrofoam is extruded polystyrene. It is a compressible "plastic". With the heat in something like the rear diff, it will melt and could form thin sheets of styrene plastic upon cooling where it will stay in that form till it gets hot again. I don't think you've got enough in there to cause any damage but then, it's not my diff, so I can have a pretty cavalier attitude about it.
If it were me, I would support the diff so that the hole points down and will empty when I flushed it with something like an engine degreaser. Then the particles will fall out with the flush. Turn it over and do the same to the other side. Rinse out well with a light machine oil. I'd then fill it with the proper diff fluid and run it in the car for one really good heat cycle where the diff will get to max temp (about 1 to 2 hour hiway driving. Come home and immediately dump the fluid while it's hot enough to carry any foam residue with it. Refill and repeat again. When the 3rd load of diff fluid is in, I would be happy enough to continue on my way. But that's just me.

GPW03

Thanks xviper, I think I will do as you mentioned. I'll start the cleaning process tonight and hopefully all will be fine. Im not too worried after reading your reply, but at the same time don't want to have problems down the road. I was told that even filling it up with fluid, once installed, and letting it run for about 10min while the car is suspended in the air, then draining it should do the trick.

Do you know what kind of engine degreaser I should use? Im thinking Simple Green? What would you recommend?

Thx again!

xviper

Don't hold me to this, but I've been told that Simple Green can be quite corrosive for some applications. You should go to an autoparts store and get a jug of the solvent they use in those parts washing trays - the kind that has the little pump and a nozzle to hose down the parts. That solvent will be safe for this sort of application. Sorry, don't know any brand names to give you.

GPW03

Thanks for the heads up I'll try a local auto parts store and see if I can get some of that other degreaser you speak of. I know exactly what your talking about, it makes sense to use that over the standard off the shelf stuff like Simple Green etc.

Much appreciated

GPW03

Here is a pic I took of the debris in my diff.

fperra

Use kerosene to clean it out. It might take a few flushes, but that should do the trick.

SpitfireS

GPW03 Posted on Jul 19 2006, 02:37 PM

This is much worse then I had in mind.

Take the back cover off and rinse thoroughly!
IMO


And I hope the person who shipped it is watching this too.
Next time put the diff in a plastic bag!
And then "cover it" with foam for protection.

GPW03

I am definately taking the back cover off, better safe than sorry. I figure if I rinse it enough I'll get most if not all of the crap out. I juts want to be sure I use the right cleaner to help me get this stuff out of there. I have yet to find the degreaser/cleaner xviper had recommended. Im also not sure if kerosene is the right liguid to be using, although im not sure?