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J5 ID Question and Diff Question

B

borjeb

New member
I recently purchased what looks to be a j5 at an auction for 3500 dollars. Seemed like a good deal at the time but when I went to winch it onto my trailer the tracks wouldn't turn (they would the next day so I think some water was frozen in there as it was warmer the second day). It also turned out to have a badly bent axle which in turn broke the aluminum axle housing.

I had my buddy who is the foreman at a machine shop chuck it into a lathe and grind it smooth, then I had a new flange water jetted, and a very skilled aluminum welder put them together. The machinist spent 3 hours trying to straighten the axle with no luck so we decided to build new, he did that for 600 bucks including the time trying to fix the old one. I finally got it together today and I think I need to change the diff oil but nothing but water came out the plug on the passenger side by the drive wheel (if that's the right one) I am going to try pouring some diesel in the filler to flush it and see how that goes.

Something funny, the machine hasn't been run since 1986, I poured gas in and hooked up booster cables, then I cranked it until oil pressure showed and then pulled the choke and it fired right up and didn't miss a beat. It is a 172 ford 4 cylinder, I was hoping someone could shed some light on that too, I haven't seen anyone talk about them having a ford 4 banger?
 

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Ok looks like a J5 early model pre 1960 in sheep's clothing! Nothing above the tub (or under body) and including the engine is original in my books... this would have a 251 flat head chrysler industrial engine and most likely a 3 speed standard transmission.
With the differential it is common for these to get water in there from sweating, or rain water or just driving through water with poor seals and gaskets... at any rate you have water and I can see by the condition of the axle bearing and seal assembly that all the diff bearing will need to be replaced and only hope the diff itself if ok. I would pull the cover off the top of the diff (if you can now get at it with that home made cab over it) and clean out all the sludge.
There is another plug you should remove to drain the area under the pinion shaft, it will drain into the floor and you can flush the floor.
I am sure by looking at this that you will need to remove the cab... somehow!
Not sure of your location or country but used parts for the diff and axles, housings, bearings, seals and end caps etc are all available.
I would also drain the engine and trany oil as they will most likely have water in them too.
 
Thanks for the insight, I live in Alberta and I see parts are available from Quebec. The engine oil and trans oil are clean, I'm thinking that thew water is from it sitting for 30 years with that housing busted wide open...maybe. The cab will come off although it is a lot of work, about 40 bolts and all the wiring, it has dome lights, fans, headlights, foglights ect. It was owned by alberta environmental judging by the doors where you can see the stickers. I didn't see any drain that will let the oil go into the pan? Ill try to get some new pics as I did some rearranging of pictures on my phone and a bunch got deleted.
 
Parts new and used are also available in Toronto at Inland Tracked Equipment (Etobicoke, ON) Bruce can be reached usually at 416-239-3058 and at MN-Outdoors. I get parts from both depending on price and were I am, as i live in PA, USA and Ontario. There is another place out your way but I am not sure what the have.
 
Ooh thanks, the language barrier was making it tough to deal with the Quebec guys. They are on kijiji is all.
 
Not to hijack your thread...but two differential drain plugs would maybe explain why my machine read full on the stick....with almost no oil around the diff when i pulled the axle...?
 
The oil level stick is in the main diff not the small section under the pinion. It may not look like much hyd oil but it should be correct. the diff carrier is not under oil, it picks the oil up with the ring gear and part of the unit in oil and slings it around quite violently! Fill as per the manual, can not remember of the top here but could go to the garage and look it up.
 
Send me you email in a private message and i will email you the parts manual i have.
The diff holds 3 imp gal of hyd oil. 13 to 14 liters.
 
Thanks again for all the help, I'm still a little lost on the second drain plug though. Do they share the same fluid at all or are they totally separate? I ran mine with diesel in it for a bit and then put clean tdh in and it seems ok so far
 
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