when it rains its really really squeaky when braking, im not sure if its related,

is there a pic on where the fill plugs are? sucks about being a visual learner lol

what color normally is the differential oil?

 

New, good gear oil should be kind of a brown/amber-ish color, about like motor oil. It doesn't really get get dirty dark brown/black like motor oil. Unless there is water contamination, or some other contaminant got in there, it should look about new.

Here is a pic I found of oil contaminated with water.



On the rear diff, the plug (i think) is on the passenger. It will have a recessed square where you can insert a ratchet or breaker bar. I think it will be 1/2, maybe 3/8 breaker. There is no drain plug. To drain it, you have to take the cover off, unless someone at some point replaced it with an aftermarket cover with a drain and fill plug. I'm not positive on the front. I think it's on the drivers side maybe just in front of the cv axle shaft. If you search around the forum, you can probably find some pictures.

 

good news is, the oil and tranny fluid look perfect : however with the amount of snow on the ground i will have to wait until it melts or gets warmer out to check the front axle out. yea and thats exactly what it looked like thank you for the pic. will have to do some research on where the front plug is in the mean time

 

most likely just mixed on the ground

 

I had something similar under the wife's car except hers is Trans fluid so it was pink. My guess is that the hard rain frothed up oil that was already on the concrete. It's worth looking into though.

 

honestly never thought of that, cause the cream colored mix (oil/water) is only where my truck leaks oil which i park every day. its in a small area where the oil stain is on the driveway, but yea as you said I'll definitely still look into it though!

in the meantime til the show melts ill park 10 feet away from where the spot is now and see if it instantly comes back or if its just oil

 

I would doubt that you would have a leak that bad and it not be visually noticeable outside of the diff itself (around the cover and gasket). It doesn't hurt to check though. Usually for you to get water and oil to mix together that well, you need some kind on mechanical assistance... ie: gears in a diff. It usually won't mix like that on the ground. Especially since there is black oil on the ground next to it, it doesn't seem likely to me that the rain did that to oil that was already on the ground. Oil and water go together like oil and water.

 

yea thats true. at work i park in the same spot everyday and basically always line up in the same oil stain lol, i never found this mix at work, only my oil stains. then again im on a slight uphill slant, im not sure if that makes a difference though.

while im waiting for weather to improve, which seems to take forever lol. i may as well learn, how does water actually get inside differentials? is there a vent or something ? figured i could also check if there is the mix in there what i could look for hopefully nothing too serious but things never seem to be a quick fix

 

there are vents. The front one has a tube that runs up through the engine bay and attaches to the fan shroud next to the upper radiator hose. You should see it there with a plastic cap looking thing. If you don't see it, it's missing or hanging down. I could also be damaged. All of these issues could allow water in the diff.