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What was wrong with your rear axle? Was it locked?
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I have to admit I have given into temptation and swam mine across a local lake a couple of times. I cinched up an empty, sealed 55g steel drum onto the front to offset the weight of the winch. I found that the extreme maintenance needed after each swim was way more than the pucker factor of swimming in deep water was worth. I do have 6 real nice green mil spec life vests now, though!...I really wanted to get this thing back into shape so I could try to swim it a time or two...
There are several points on the Goat that naturally collect water - but I've never heard of a diff vent pulling in H20 unless it had been submerged in deep water. Locking and thumping of the diff is usually a broken ring gear - I've gone through that routine with my front diff after having overstressed it yanking out a blazer that was buried deep in sand in a flash flood. We got onto the front page of the local paper with that recovery - but went home on the back of a flatbed tow truckIt actually thumped in 6 wheel drive...When the guy who restored put the rear up you could tell somthing was off with the rear wheels when they spun. He drainedthe rear dif and it was rust and water..replaced the rear and it went away. Some have said that the positoin of the rear Dif vent tube leads to water dripping into it from the trailer when it collects water.
Joe
I'm not a chemist (legally anyhoo), but there just HAS to be sumpin wrong with that conoction!!!I managed to whip up a concoction today. ATF + DOT 3 + Injector cleaner + Mineral Spirts + Diesel fuel + Denatured alcohol. I climbed under the goat again and found a bunch of mud in the bottom of the differential. I scooped what clumps I could out with my finger. Then I used the garden hose to wash until nothing but clear water came back out. I reinstalled the drain plug and removed the fill plug and pumped the mixture into the housing. I jacked up the rear carrier until both wheels were off the ground. Surprisingly I was able to get it to start moving just after that. It's still not good sounding, I'm going to let it sit till tomorrow and try spinning it over again. But it actually spins now. Almost to the point where it will keep spinning for a little time afterwards. I need to fill the front and middle axles with gear oil as well. I also want to check the steering box as well. If I can get things to move freely, I might try moving it around a little (very slowly) to see what noises I hear.
Sounds like "good work" to me - but I would probably pull the diff and open it up to see if it can be brought back up to driveable condition. BTW - there are 2 steering boxes to check out. In my own experience, the front box causes the most trouble since rainwater and condensation is routed right onto an iffy seal on the top of the box in everyday use. Almost every Goat owner I have spoken to has had to eventually swap out the front steering box because of water damage. My own has been modified to prevent water ingress. We drilled and tapped a fresh steering box on the bottom to accept a zerk fitting - then pumped the box full of Mystik JT-6 anti-hygroscopic grease. When I run through the lube order, I add Mystik to the steering box until I can see some push past the top seal. No problems with rain or deep water fording since the mod.I managed to whip up a concoction today. ATF + DOT 3 + Injector cleaner + Mineral Spirts + Diesel fuel + Denatured alcohol. I climbed under the goat again and found a bunch of mud in the bottom of the differential. I scooped what clumps I could out with my finger. Then I used the garden hose to wash until nothing but clear water came back out. I reinstalled the drain plug and removed the fill plug and pumped the mixture into the housing. I jacked up the rear carrier until both wheels were off the ground. Surprisingly I was able to get it to start moving just after that. It's still not good sounding, I'm going to let it sit till tomorrow and try spinning it over again. But it actually spins now. Almost to the point where it will keep spinning for a little time afterwards. I need to fill the front and middle axles with gear oil as well. I also want to check the steering box as well. If I can get things to move freely, I might try moving it around a little (very slowly) to see what noises I hear.
ATF (Well Dex III that I used) is a synthenic based oil with corrosion inhibitors and detergents.I'm not a chemist (legally anyhoo), but there just HAS to be sumpin wrong with that conoction!!!
Did it smoke or bubble or anything??
Seriously though, super glad you made some good progress.
(I'm also glad it's gone from the compound...in case sumpin else shows up ya know)
The Goat was designed for using DOT 3 (glycol based HB fluid). The changeover to silicone (BSF) took place in 1980-81, so if you want to use DOT 3, it should not be a problem.I'd place DOT 3 in other MV's after a complete flush. But due to the nature of a goat, it will only see DOT 5. Course the only MV I had with DOT 3 was my M1009.
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