Open diff maintenance

[Dino]

I just bought a 741 case with open 3.23 gears for my car.  I won't be installing it until after the winter so I'm going to clean up the housing and paint it.  What can I do to make sure the gears are in good shape as well?  They look fine but so did my 2.96 gears which have a howl under load.  Is there anything I can do to check for this while it's out of the car or will I just have to wait until it's installed?

Also what's the best way to clean the gears?  I'm not sure how long it's been sitting, the gears are still covered in oil but who knows how much debris got in there that I can't see.

[Dmichels]

Well it really depends how far you want to get into this I have always dunked them in parts cleaning fluid and let them drain. Do you know their history? Is there excessive gear back lash? any chipped teeth? any indication of a bad bearing? You can do a full tear down if you want to. Put an new pinion seal at the minimum.

[Dino]

I'm not sure how far I want to go with it.  I don't beat on the car but would like to have the gears as quiet as possible.  My current gears are a bit noisy.  I haven't been home long and the gears just arrived, haven't unpacked them yet so I'll do that tomorrow afternoon and see what it looks like.  I do not know anything about them and took  a chance on them, the price was not too bad.  Here's the ebay link with a few pics.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/191426000589?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

How do I check the back lash or any other issues it may have?

[Dino]

Alright, unpacked the humongous box and checked the gears.  They look great to me but what do you guys think?  They are dirty so they'll need a good cleaning.  Can I get any parts cleaning liquid at the auto parts store and dunk it in a bucket or is there a better way?

I tried to find play on the thingy the driveshaft connects to and can't find any, it feels pretty solid.  The gears spin very easy as well.

[Dino]

more

[six-tee-nine]

I would clean it out with something like brake cleaner or some cleaning product in a spray bottle. Then blow dry with air.
The surface rust is not an issue imo.

You could always put paint or dye on the teeth of the ring gear to see if the wear pattern is good so you are sure it was set accoringly so you know if it had a rebuild by the previous owner.
If that turns out good and the bearings look good then I say drop it in put fresh oil in the pumpking and do a stresstest.....

[Dino]

Thanks for the suggestions, I like the paint idea.    

I'll hang it upside down over a basin and use a spray bottle...if I can rig something up to hold that weight. 

[six-tee-nine]

Maybe you can turn a ring bolt into one of the holes and hang it to the ceiling

[Dino]

That oughta do it.  Thanks!