Got a really strong gear oil smell in the cab today. REALLY strong. I've caught a whiff before but this time it didn't dissipate.

I pulled over and noticed that the front diff was warmer than I expected and the smell was coming from that area. The diff was warm enough to melt the snow that had blown up on it.

Any ideas? Common issues? I'm still learning about this 3rd gen.

 

check the fluid in the front diff. could be low. also check the pinion seal see if its leaking.

 

It could be over full as well. I had that on my 2000. The previous owner over filled it it and when it got warm it came out the overflow.

 

Well, the cover is coming off on Saturday. I'll see what's going on in there. Hopefully just old oil. (I've seen a couple threads that mentioned the same issue) no noticeable leaks.

Only trick will be getting the RTV to cure at below freezing temps......

 

The gasket should be the reusable rubber doohickey like on the rear.

 

That would be awesome!

 

Finally got an hour to work on the darn thing last night. Found that some nice gorilla cranked the cover bolts down WAY too tight so the upper one started to round off..... Figures. With the temp dropping down below zero, I didn't pull the cover off but I found the fill plug was loose and the level was low by almost a quart! No signs of a leak but I'll have to keep an eye on it. I relocated the vent a bit too to see if that will help as well.

When I get another chance and it is above 0*, I'll monkey with the rounded bolt and get the cover off to see how bad it is.