EtoS

I bought an R200 rear diff to put on my S2000. Problem is the whole box is soaked in gear fluid. He had the diff boxed multiple times with other boxes- no wrap or peanuts etc. He did put alot of layers of plastic around each inner box. I looked for where the leak could of came from but I found nothing. Most of the fluid seems to be from the rear of the diff as the front is only lightly layered with gear oil.

What should I look for to find the leak? If it truly has an issue I'm obviously going to return it but I need to find the damage first to show the seller. Seller is a store which had a 99% approval rating.

Billman250

Could be simple leak out of the vent.

EtoS

Where is the vent if you know?

Edit: NM found the vent.

Here are the pictures- should it leak this much out? If so wouldn't of been a better idea not to leave oil in the diff? It would only make a mess and weigh more thus more costly to ship.

EastS2k

why not just fill with diff fluid and see if it leaks or not?

EtoS

I was thinking of doing that. I just wanted to see if anyone else got similar issues first before I start wasting diff fluid. BTW what would you guys recommend using for cleaning out the old fluid and what works good on R200's? Car will see alot of track time at 500hp so it's gonna get abused.

wadzii

thats pretty normal, they arent designed to hold fluid while being tossed around by ups.

the seller should have emptied the diff before shipping it.

fatjoe10

^this!

Stratocaster

Actually shipping oil is considered a hazard and costs extra. The shipper could have return it to the sender with a fine.

On packaging. Peanuts would have been useless. They were designed to fill voids in boxes with light weight items. A diff is not a light weight item by any means.

Billman250

Now that I see your pics, its very likely it was leaking while in service.

I would do a full seal job, but DO NOT do the pinion seal. Save that for last, it can be done in the car. Doing the pinion seal means disturbing the nut, and disturbing the wear pattern.

Do the side seals where the stub shafts go in.

It would also be very easy to pop the rear cover off, inspect the ring and pinion while you have it off, and re-silicone it.

That is your best advice.

CKit

Also keep in mind that an R200 is a housing and not a specific differential. If it truly is a track car, you want an aftermarket diff to put in the R200 carrier. The factory R200 differential is a viscous diff which is a step down in track performance from a stock OEM Torsen. Consider upgrading to a clutch-type differential.