Hey fellas,

I had to park the Trooper about 4 months ago due to gas prices, and instead bought a $300 econobox junker.

Out of the blue, I come home one day and there is a puddle under the rear dif. The leak is not coming from the drain plug, but rather the gasket, I think. The Trooper hadn't been moved in months, it just sat there and suddenly started leaking.

I'm kind of a newbie, but was wondering what I am looking at. Is this a difficult repair? Also, does anyone know what size the drain/fill bolts on the diff are? My largest socket, 22mm, was too small.

THANKS

Should be 24mm. Make sure you break the fill plug loose first. Hate to have it empty and not be able to refill. Just unbolt and pull the cover off. Give the surfaces a good cleaning and either replace the gasket or apply high temp RTV.

In my 90 & 88 Troopers no gasket, just RTV. I think all 1st gens are RTV and suspect later ones are too.

Are you sure it's not the pinion seal? That seems a more likely place for a leak to develop.