My auto repair shop says that I have water in my front diff. I drive through mud and some water holes. Nothing over half way up my tire(33s) I am driving a 05 F150 fx4 5.6L -- And is the fix as easy as draining the diff fluid and refilling it?

 

Should be as long as no damage has been done. The big question will be how long it has been in there. I would also check to see how it got in if you are "only" up to hub level. Have you checked the breather tub to see if it is hanging down or gone?,

 

I've been told they just build up condensation in them because they're not in constant use like the rear end, so they never really heat up. The fluid is milky then even though they haven't been submerged and taken in water. I pulled the cover on mine and changed the fluid out after it was brought to my attention at 113000 miles. Easy job.

 

From the sounds of it, he is talking more than condensation. Also condensation would not really build up as the heat in the diff would vaporize it and the moisture would go out the breather tube, just like condensation in your engine.
His has to be a bad or missing breather tube or some crack or other opening that is allowing the water to be sucked in.

 

Definitely something else besides condensation build up, I wonder just how much supposed water is in the front diff. Coming from a family that use to go mudding all the time, some water isn't going to tear up anything, mud though will do all kinds of damage to seals and bearings. Not hard to replace the fluid but depending on how beat the seals are they might leak with new fluid.

 

Sounds worse than condensation to me... You need to check the breather tube / fitting. It might be loose, or broken...

 

where is the breather cap for front diff in 2003 F150 super crew FX4 ?

 

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