I was out in my garage this morning getting ready to shovel snow AGAIN....when I could smell that pungent odor that smelled like none other than differential fluid. Sure enough, I look under my truck and see a little pool of royal purple on the floor. I expected it to be coming from the diff. cover since I have a Mag-Hytec and figured I needed to tighten it more or something. Well, come to find out, it's leaking from a rubber tube/hose that goes from the rear axle and is connected to the underside of the bed??? Looks like a vent tube or something???? It's coming out the end of the hose then running down the hose and dripping off the axle.

Has anyone had this problem before? What is the purpose of this hose and why would it be leaking fluid? I checked the dipstick of my Mag-hytec and it still shows the fluid level being in between the "full" and "add" mark, so it must have just started leaking.

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks :o

 

What a trip I just noticed that I had a couple of drops on my driveway & I investigated it as well and I have the same little leak as you. It looks like it is coming from a rubber hose that goes into a support channel in the bed. I am running a Mag-Hytec cover and royal purple as well. I cleaned it up a little and haven't noticed it since but I am keeping an eye on it. If you find out anything please shoot me a PM and I will do the same should I find out anything.

 

yes that is a vent tube for the diff.

My personal experience is that RP fluid gets hot it tends to get foamy and expand. I personally dont like RP fluid.....

 

Sure will, thanks. It makes me feel a little better knowing you're having the exact same problem and it's not something totally random.

 

i wouldnt go by the dipstick on the cover...pull the fill plug out and see if any comes out it may be overfull....

 

What I don't understand is that I've been running it for over 6 months now and never had a problem with it until the other day....weird

 

I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same problem. I have just shy of 80K on my truck and had the rear diff fluid changed this past summer, nothing fancy.....just OEM stuff.

 

It could be getting hot and causing some to come out of the vent tube. Also could be over filled but I would think you would have noticed it coming out the vent tube before now. Also have you had the rear end under water? If so maybe some water made it into the diff.

If it has not been in water then I would take the fill plug out and see if fluid starts to pour out. The fluid level should be level with the bottom of the fill plug.

That's all I know to do...maybe someone else can chime in that has some other ideas.