Not your usual diff leak.

[Hall]

Well I got the pitman arm, the sector shaft seal and the front diff flange sealing all done on the weekend. Went to the local car wash and cleaned of the under side of the ute. Front diff all nice and mostly clean. Have now found that the front diff has a small crack about twenty millimetres down from the top about fifteen millimetres long next to the hump covering the crown wheel. No dents just a crack that of course weeps oil.:mad: Front diff has a guard and this crack is fairly high up and out of the way , so a bit of a puzzle as to why it has cracked.
Cheers Hall

[shorty943]

Been doing any extreme flex off road work?
Sounds like the kind of thing that can happen with that kind of shock to the castings.
Had to beef up the rear end of my old Effie years ago, too much load on the rear axle cracked the casing.

[steveG]

Well I got the pitman arm, the sector shaft seal and the front diff flange sealing all done on the weekend. Went to the local car wash and cleaned of the under side of the ute. Front diff all nice and mostly clean. Have now found that the front diff has a small crack about twenty millimetres down from the top about fifteen millimetres long next to the hump covering the crown wheel. No dents just a crack that of course weeps oil.:mad: Front diff has a guard and this crack is fairly high up and out of the way , so a bit of a puzzle as to why it has cracked.
Cheers Hall

There was a thread a few months back - possibly in the Isuzu section and a few people have had front diffs crack around that crownwheel cover.

Mine was cracked in what sounds like a similar location to yours.
Vee'd out the crack a bit with an angle grinder and hit it with the stick welder. No more leak.
If its well above the oil line I wouldn't even bother draining the oil.

Steve

[Hall]

Thing is with this ute. It has range rover axles and custom suspension that has heaps of flex. So most likely then a flex issue. Can use a welder, but a bit worried about the gauge of the metal. Don`t need a hole in it.
Cheers Hall

[steveG]

Can you post a piccy of where its cracked? I've just re-read your original post and now thinking its in a slightly different location to mine.

Mine was cracked in the weld area where the crownwheel cover piece is welded to the main housing. Probably about the 2pm position looking aft.

Steve