Changed my diff cover, found one metal flake. Lots of checking in my future

[BigLizzard]

I just finished the second of my diff cover changes. I put a pair of arb covers on in place of the factory steel ones. I watched some videos before to make sure I was doing the little things I should be since Im no expert. The front checked out just fine, no metal chunks or flakes......but the rear, I found one on the magnet. Granted it was right on the magnet and there was the gray goup that I have seen in other videos on the top. It looks like it was in there from the beginning and was thankfully captured by the magnet doing its job. Now I will always wonder if my rear is going to degrade faster than it should. Im probably fine, but I will keep checking for more flakes now that I saw one. Im glad I did the diff cover change so I can know to be vigilant about looking for problems in the rear.

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[ShadowsPapa]

One can be something really simple. If it was me I'd have had a good look around, looked for normal gear surfaces, that sort of thing, maybe tried to see if I could tell what the metal may have been from (sometimes there's metal in there from manufacturing, thus good idea to have magnet in there) and it's not a problem at all.

My gut says it's not going to "degrade faster" and it's not a big deal. I say that after having many dozens of differentials opened up for various reasons.

Being alert is never a problem.
Being paranoid can be a waste of energy.

 

[Hootbro]

I would not worry about one small piece. Probably was just some housing casting flash that was not dressed up and cleaned out when built.

 

[BigLizzard]

One can be something really simple. If it was me I'd have had a good look around, looked for normal gear surfaces, that sort of thing, maybe tried to see if I could tell what the metal may have been from (sometimes there's metal in there from manufacturing, thus good idea to have magnet in there) and it's not a problem at all.

My gut says it's not going to "degrade faster" and it's not a big deal. I say that after having many dozens of differentials opened up for various reasons.

Being alert is never a problem.
Being paranoid can be a waste of energy.

Based on where I found the flake, under all the goop, I have a hard time thinking it was something that happened while driving. I did a thorough look through of my diff, but couldn't find anything that looked off. Its also a small 1mmx.5mm metal flake so theres a good chance I would never find where it was from. Ill check the fluid early next summer and see if I can find more flakes or not.

Im just a diyer, and by no means any kind of expert, so I may not have the best judgement on when to freak out or when to just move on. Ill err the side of caution, but hopefully not the side of insanity.

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