HELP!! Front differential cover not coming off!

First triply check that all bolts are removed, then just use a chisel or screwdrive to pry it off one place at a time. Just start it a lttle and work it off, don't bend it or hurt it.

That factory sealant is like glue.

Thanks for the tip. Thats what I was trying to do but there was no where in get anything in there. I just got it loose a little bit and I'm taking a break for a minute (gotta quit smoking). So far, I was able to get a razor blade in there and loosen it up the seal a little bit. I grinded down a chisel to a super fine edge and barely got it in there. I took another chisel and put it right next to it and slowly, I've started to wedge it open. It's open enough that some oil is coming out but not a steady flow. I'm just taking my time on this one because I don't want to damage anything and be kicking myself for it.

While I'm talkin about this front cover, I can't get the breather hose off either but then again, I haven't tried hard on it. Can I just disconnect it from the harness up near the hood and just let it hang? It's not attatched to anything else so I would assume this is ok.

you could also use a scraper to seperate the cover from the axle housing. ..... just take a small hammer and lighly tap the scraper with it in the edge of the cover/axle housing to seperate.
there is very minimal room to take the bolts off which I feel your pain cause I have done this already. just make sure you takek out all the bolts like kenihemi said and have a drain pan underneath it so you dont make a mess.
the black tube should come of real easy if it doesnt then I would suggest taking a small straight edge screwdriver and go around the edge of the tube to try and seperate it from the cover .. let us know how you faired out

Thanks to all, I eventually got it off after 2 hours of work (and a few beers ) I ended up using 5 chisels/pry bars to get it open enough to to get my hand in their safely and start yankin on it. It came off and took a half hour to clean off the housings. Putting it back on was simple. I just didn't imagine that it would take 30 minutes for the rear and almost 3 for the front. Ah well, its done, nothing was broke, missing or shreded so it was worth the time to do it myself and the satisfaction of not going to the dealership.

angusdevil said:

Thanks to all, I eventually got it off after 2 hours of work (and a few beers ) I ended up using 5 chisels/pry bars to get it open enough to to get my hand in their safely and start yankin on it. It came off and took a half hour to clean off the housings. Putting it back on was simple. I just didn't imagine that it would take 30 minutes for the rear and almost 3 for the front. Ah well, its done, nothing was broke, missing or shreded so it was worth the time to do it myself and the satisfaction of not going to the dealership.

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Glad to see it all worked out in the end :rck:

47,000 miles on my truck and I have never changed the front diff fluid. Just courious how often the front diff fluid needs to be changed? I rarely use 4 WD so not sure if I need to change it soon?

Maintenance schedule A says ever 30,000 miles. Schedule B says every 15,000 miles.

Even if you don't use your 4WD that often, your gears are still spinning in there so things can still get dirty and wear out. If you're gonna do one, you might as well do the other.

Yeah, that diff is working even in 2wd unless you remove the front drive shaft.