Sactownog Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Can someone point me to a write up or directions on how to change the fluid in the rear end of this old rear end. I am used to the normal chevy style rear end's with bolts on the back of the pumpkin. but this car has the bolts on the drive line side with drive line sticking out of it. I want to change the gasket and add new fluid, but I am not quite sure how to go about starting this fun swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Post #657 on page 24 of the story about Daphne the 1932 Dodge (in the Dodge Brothers section below) shows the rear axle. The differential bolts into the front of the housing and there is a pressed steel cover bolted to the rear. Is yours different to that? The usual way to change the oil is to remove the filler plug on the metal cover (about 2/3 up) and a bottom bolt on the cover. Refill to the level of the filler plug. The trouble with this system is that all those bolts have one end in the air and one in the oil. The oil tends to come up the threads, esp. in the bottom bolts. The diff. bolts are the same. It isn't easy to keep the oil in the diff.! Um, what is the "pumpkin"? Is that the differential? I don't know that term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Some people in N. America call the "Carrier and Cap Assembly" and the "differential assembly" when they are assembled to each other a "Pumpkin". I have no idea where the name came from. It would also seem to me to be impossible for a "pumpkin" to have a cover. Perhaps he was thinking of a cover on the "Rear axle Housing assembly"??? We (all of us humans) seem to have bastardized our languages terribly. It would be nice if we all called everything by it's right name. It is difficult though when you have a company that manufacturers several makes and calls the same item by a different name for each marque and even sometimes even different names between Sales and Service departments. Ah well the Ides of March is past and tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Wear something green and work in your shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 You can use a suction pump to remove the old fluid from rear axle using the filler plug hole. Or you can remove one of the lower bolts holding the ring and pinion gear assembly to the axle housing and let the gear lube drain out it. No reason to remove the ring and pinion gear assembly to replace the gasket unless you have other issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Removable third member from the front after taking the axles out and the driveline off.. That's the Pumpkin. Typical to the 9 inch Ford and the 3 3/4 Mopar among others. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Why not just call it a "third member". As Spinneyhill asked how did we get halloween vegetables under a motorcar??? Neither my smartalec answer or JACK M's has answered his question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I've read that differentials that only have a fill plug can be drained by lifting the rear wheels off the the ground and safely supporting the axle and then running the car slowly in gear. It will slosh the oil out the fill hole. Of course you'll need to use a suitably sized catch container. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 8 minutes ago, Bleach said: rear wheels off the the ground and safely supporting the axle and then running the car slowly in gear. That will take hours! And how will you know you got it all? Sounds like a bush mechanic idea to me. Removing a bottom bolt is pretty simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 13 minutes ago, Spinneyhill said: That will take hours! And how will you know you got it all? Sounds like a bush mechanic idea to me. Removing a bottom bolt is pretty simple! That's if you have a bottom bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 1 minute ago, Bleach said: That's if you have a bottom bolt. Hmmm. Can't say I have seen that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 There must be some since I read that in a write up elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) I think everyone is referring to the bottom mounting bolt of the third member, not a bolt in the bottom of the axle housing. That was always standard operating procedure on cars where there is no axle housing cover. Some mechanics even used the bottom bolt of the cover on cars that had one. Saved buying/changing a gasket. Works best if you can drain it after a fairly long drive so the gear lube is hot. Edited March 18, 2018 by Guest (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush Mechanic Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 As Ply33 mentioned, the use of a suction pump seems sensible, being standard practice on yacht engines, where no clearance is available under the sump. Mine resembles a large syringe, and is useful for both removing and refilling diff and gearbox lubricant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Looks kinda like a pumpkin ???? Best guess. All I know it has been the slang ever since I can remember. Much heavier than the Halloween vegetable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleach Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 6 hours ago, JACK M said: Looks kinda like a pumpkin ???? Best guess. All I know it has been the slang ever since I can remember. Much heavier than the Halloween vegetable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 On 3/18/2018 at 3:07 PM, Bleach said: Yea, like that !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Man Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 On my 1933 the bottom rear end bolts extended into the area where the oil bath is located. I had a combination of lock washers and copper washers, the lower lock washers were leaking. I put new copper washers on the bottom and lock washers on the top. Guessing that is how they sealed the bolts in 1933? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Harmatuk Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Known as a "Hog's Head" around here. Thats what i've always heard it called. Eastern, North Carolina. Bill H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stude Light Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 On 3/16/2018 at 4:15 PM, Tinindian said: Some people in N. America call the "Carrier and Cap Assembly" and the "differential assembly" when they are assembled to each other a "Pumpkin". I have no idea where the name came from. A pumpkin is shaped similar to a differential carrier housing and an average one is about the same size. That is where the name comes from. With the "banjo" style axle (another fine slang term - axle housing looks like a banjo when the cover and carrier housing are removed) a lower retaining bolt can be removed to drain the axle assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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