Differential ring gear has 5 teeth broken + bad pinion bearing. whats the best fix, replace with used or repair

If you are talking the crown wheel carrier bearings in a differential then the cost to repair is 4 bearings and a pinion seal kit. The cost will come in if the ring gear and pinion teeth have been damaged. I suggest a second opinion from an accredired transmission specialst that does differentials

hello sir ...

RING AND PINION TOOTH CONTACT PATTERN.—The ring and pinion tooth contact pattern is used to double-check ring and pinion adjustment. To check the accuracy of your adjustments, coat the ring gear teeth with a thin coat of red lead, white grease, hydrated ferric oxide (yellow oxide or iron), or Prussian blue. Turn the ring gear one way and then the other to rub the teeth together, producing a contact pattern on the teeth. Carefully note the contact pattern that shows up on the teeth where the substance used has been wiped off. A good contact pattern is one located in the center of the gear teeth (fig. 5-21). Figure 5-21 shows several ring and pinion gear contact patterns. Study each and note the suggested correction for the faulty contact

This is bad, rear end locking up and grinding, i will bet the bearings are shot and so is the ring gear and pinion gear . the cost to rebuild this will be costly and you would need a tech to rebuild it . if the ring depth and pinion depth are not correct then noise will start and wear,

I thing the best bet is to locate a used rear end, and install it. it is not hard to install used differential .

When you remove the cover save tag that is on bolt to cover, you will need this when locating used rear end, also count teeth on ring gear and pinion then divide to get the ratio. there is a good website that will help you locate a used rear end in your area.

the site is http://www.car-part.com/ Hope this is helpful. good day

The fluid splattered all over is most likely coming from the pinion seal. (The seal at the front of the differential where the driveshaft yoke goes in.) Normally, you would remove the driveshaft and the pinion yoke to relace the seal. The grinding however, leads me to believe that the seal leaking is a RESULT not a CAUSE of your problem. The way you describe it sounds like you may have some serious pinion and/or ring gear damage inside the differential.
If this is the case, there are severl ways to go about repairing this. You could tear your differential apart and replace the defective/damaged parts inside. You could replace your differential with a used one from a salvage yard. You could replace your differential with a remanufactured differential assembly.

To check for damage, remove the rear cover from the differential and check for metal in the oil and in the bottom of the housing. You can also turn the ring gear around and check for broken teeth. You can also inspect the spider gears and pinion gear for damage.

i would remove rear cover plate to axle ( pig ) and check for ring and pinion gear or spider gears for broken teeth. Or are you sure it's not a posi gone bad ? i would think that you have a problem with the pinion gear and or ring gear.

Should be a metal tab bolted to rear inspection cover of differential displaying gear ratio or count the number of teeth on pinion (small gear connected to drive shaft) Divide number into the number of teeth on ring gear

Look for a used replacement on ebay, craigslist, or junkyards. When you find the parts, then find a shop to install them for you.

Constant howl....usually wheel bearing.
Howl on acceleration.......usually rear pinion bearing (the bigger of the two on the pinion) in the diff (rear axle)
Howl on de-acceleration....the front (smaller) pinion bearing in the diff.(rear axle)

REMOVAL

1. Remove filler plug from the differential cover.
2. Remove differential cover and drain the lubricant.
3. Clean housing cavity with flushing oil, light engine oil or a lint free cloth. NOTE: Do not use steam, kerosene or gasoline to clean the housing.
   
4. Remove axle shafts.
5. Remove RWAL/ABS sensor from housing. NOTE: Side play resulting from bearing races being loose on case hubs requires replacement of the differential case.
   
6. Mark differential housing and bearing caps for installation reference (REFERENCE MARKS).
7. Remove bearing threaded adjuster lock from each bearing cap.
8. Loosen differential bearing cap bolts.
9. Loosen differential bearing adjusters through the axle tubes with Wrench C-4164 (THREADED ADJUSTER TOOL).
10. Hold differential case while removing bearing caps and adjusters.
11. Remove differential case. NOTE: Tag the differential bearing cups and threaded adjusters to indicate their location.
    

INSTALLATION

1. Apply a coating of hypoid gear lubricant to the differential bearings, bearing cups, and threaded adjusters. A dab of grease can be used to keep the adjusters in position.
2. Install differential assembly into the housing.
3. Install differential bearing caps in their original locations (BEARING CAPS).
4. Install bearing cap bolts and tighten the upper bolts to 14 N·m (10 ft. lbs.). Tighten the lower bolts finger-tight until the bolt head is seated.
5. Perform the differential bearing preload and adjustment procedure. NOTE: Be sure that all bearing cap bolts are tightened to their final torque of 136 N·m (100 ft.lbs.) before proceeding.
   
6. Install axle shafts.
7. Apply a bead of orange Mopar Axle RTV Sealant or equivalent to the housing cover (COVER SEALANT). CAUTION: If cover is not installed within 3 to 5 minutes, the cover must be cleaned and new RTV applied or adhesion quality will be compromised.
   
8. Install the cover and any identification tag and tighten cover bolts to 41 N·m (30 ft. lbs.).
9. Fill differential with lubricant to bottom of the fill plug hole. Refer to the Lubricant Specifications for the correct quantity and type. NOTE: Trac-lok™ differential equipped vehicles should be road tested by making 10 to 12 slow figure-eight turns. This maneuver will pump the lubricant through the clutch discs to eliminate a possible chatter noise complaint.
   

DIFFERENTIAL BEARING PRELOAD AND GEAR BACKLASH The following must be considered when adjusting bearing preload and gear backlash:

• The maximum ring gear backlash variation is 0.076 mm (0.003 in.).
• Mark the gears so the same teeth are meshed during all backlash measurements.
• Maintain the torque while adjusting the bearing preload and ring gear backlash.
• Excessive adjuster torque will introduce a high bearing load and cause premature bearing failure. Insufficient adjuster torque can result in excessive differential case free-play and ring gear noise.
• Insufficient adjuster torque will not support the ring gear correctly and can cause excessive differential case free-play and ring gear noise.

NOTE: The differential bearing cups will not always immediately follow the threaded adjusters as they are moved during adjustment. To ensure accurate bearing cup responses to the adjustments:

• Maintain the gear teeth engaged (meshed) as marked.
• The bearings must be seated by rapidly rotating the pinion gear a half turn back and forth.
• Do this five to ten times each time the threaded adjusters are adjusted.

1. Through the axle tube use Wrench C-4164 to adjust each threaded adjuster inward until the differential bearing free-play is eliminated. Allow some ring gear backlash approximately 0.25 mm (0.01 in.) between the ring and pinion gear. Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above.
2. Install dial indicator and position the plunger against the drive side of a ring gear tooth (RING GEAR BACKLASH). Measure the backlash at 4 positions, 90 degrees apart around the ring gear. Locate and mark the area of minimum backlash.
3. Rotate the ring gear to the position of the least backlash. Mark the gear so that all future backlash measurements will be taken with the same gear teeth meshed.
4. Loosen the right-side, tighten the left-side threaded adjuster. Obtain backlash of 0.076 to 0.102 mm (0.003-0.004 in.) with each adjuster tightened to 14 N·m (10 ft. lbs.). Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above.
5. Tighten the differential bearing cap bolts 136 N·m (100 ft. lbs.).
6. Tighten the right-side threaded adjuster to 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.). Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above. Continue to tighten the right-side adjuster and seat bearing cups until the torque remains constant at 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.)
7. Measure the ring gear backlash. The range of backlash is 0.15 to 0.203 mm (0.006 to 0.008 in.).
8. Continue increasing the torque at the right-side threaded adjuster until the specified backlash is obtained. NOTE: The left-side threaded adjuster torque should have approximately 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.). If the torque is considerably less, the complete adjustment procedure must be repeated.
   
9. Tighten the left-side threaded adjuster until 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.) torque is indicated. Seat the bearing rollers with the procedure described above. Do this until the torque remains constant.
10. Install the threaded adjuster locks and tighten the lock screws to 10 N·m (90 in. lbs.).

The C/Tr: C refers to the colour of the vehicle Tr refers to the interior colour A/TM is your transmission type. None of those numbers identify the rear end ratio.

What you need to do: Since you have to replace the rear end, yank it out. Examine the ring & pinion gears on the differential carrier. Mark on each a starting point, and count the teeth on both the ring & pinion gears. Now, after you have both totals of teeth, divide the # of teeth on the pinion by the number of teeth on the ring gear. Example: 12 teeth on the pinion, 46 teeth on the ring
12/46 = 3.83 ratio