This week I went to clean my Differential Rebreather and the cir-clip broke and the tube fell into the diff. I almost got it out with a borescope & screw I JB welded at the end and stuck to it to pull it through but it fell back in deeper. Now I have searched at the difficulty at getting what seemingly seems like the worst designed diff cover in the history of cars. You have to remove the entire subframe, struts, and seemingly the HUGE bolt that goes through both entire control arms which are typically seized in order to just get the cover off. I have no money, no consistent way to work any longer and feel I just ruined my entire years work on this car and it is my baby. Now I have to find someone who can be mobile as if the rear wheels move it will grind up the tube possibly damaging the diff permanently. I've had the most depressing year of my life and every day it seems to continuously get worst no matter the positive day I so chase and the go getter attitude I usually have.

This 1 second mistake now costs me a 10-15 hour job that is even if I could do it or pay for it and I no longer know what to do. It's only 81k miles and the leather hasn't a single scratch on it. If someone, anyone is near Charlotte, NC and has the ability, patience to do so please help me.

 

Lasso loop string / wire on a flex stick ?

Magnet on a flex stick ?

Picture with arrow to point where tube has settled

Sometimes you have to step back and give some time and solutions come

 

Does this vid help others picture your obstacle and hidden spot as this is a X308 diff

See timeframe 2 :00 hour point

 

Solutions, or at least new ideas, do come with time.

Have you drained the diff oil via the bottom drain plug? I don't know the internals of the diff very well, but maybe the tube has fallen down to the bottom. With your borescope you could look around the inside of the bottom. You are the doctor. Depending on its size maybe the tube could be fished out the drain hole.

With the rear end off the ground and in Neutral, you could very gently turn a rear wheel to check if the tube is stuck in a binding situation.

I think we've all been there. At what point do you say thats all? Its a personal decision. Sounds like you have a lot invested and are likely not inclined to give up just yet. Pay attention to your father as you want and need to, and the car can get taken care of later as you decide on your situation.

 

Please loosen the fill plug, make sure you can remove it..... before you touch the drain plug.

 

I will take pictures today/tomorrow when I end up tackling this again. I have been sitting on it and I really REALLY do not want to have to drop the subframe and dismantle the cover as I've seen a couple videos now and it seems like the most possibly seized bolts on the car from buildup, temperature and location over the years so I will be trying more creative ways.
At first I JB welded the screw to the cap but that ended up pulling the cap out once I had nearly had it through. Since it fell again it's about 3 inches in, on it's side, no real telling atm which side was what but I haven't gone under there in days.

What I will be trying is to drill a hole in the back floor of the wheel storage in the trunk, to have a direct line of sight into the diff as grabbing anything from below & in between the monostrut and that is so incredibly tough at that angle. I will then take chicken wire, or some type of malleable metal wire to either make a loop of sorts just to at least get it pointed in the right direction. Then I will take more wire, possibly with stick double sided mounting adhesive and try and stick it down the tunnel of the tube, then allowing me to pull it forward through the hole, as keep in mind I must keep a 0mm clearance between the tube and the circular diff tube hole so i will have to be sticking it inside the tube.

I will be using my boroscope during it, I will take pictures if I can to help others if this situation were to occur again and just for your entertainment and to lighten my mood in such a stupid time.

 

Thank you for the kind words and guidance with solutions. I have too much time, effort, and understanding invested into this car to give up right now. The blow of being moments away from finishing the cleaning of the tube to now being 1-2 weeks without a car and possibly many hours of the toughest job ahead it was just extremely exhausting, upsetting, and depressing in a really tough time for me. In regards to draining the diff, I drained and refilled it a couple months ago, that was much easier than this mess, luckily my fill plug wasn't too tough and with the correct extension length it can be a decently easy spot to get leverage with a longer socket.

Thank you guys

 

SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I spent some time thinking and debating and planning on my fix.... and I did it.
The tube was basically lying on it's side, facing the opposite direction of the hole so it seemed impossible but steady hands, the right tools and patience got it done.

I took a $30 endoscope, it had a tiny hook on the end, it was a bit too long so I bent it and cut it. Stuck it in, and slowly flipped it to face the correct way and get it closer to the hole. I tried JB welding some more BS to it but that broke off, so I used a hand grabber which I will throw a picture of below and instead of using the claw to grab around the tube, I stuck it inside the hole inside the tube and pushed the claw open and push against the inside walls of the tube. I was able to get it pulled into the hole and had it sit there sticking out only a couple mm's. Then I grabbed longgg needle nose plyers, going through the hole in the back of my trunk to grab the edges and start to wiggle and pull it through. Adjusted myself, grabbed lower when I had more to grab and got it FITTED in there. It turns out the plastic tube is a bit tapered and sits tight in it when pulled all the way through. I then used high heat (550f) JB weld and epoxied around it with a watercolor brush in order to make sure it never fell in again since now the clips were missing. Put the little cap back on, and then the larger which sat snug since there was excess jb weld around the tip. Filled with a bit more fluid, patched up the holes and I've been back on the road!!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who came up with idea's and kept my hope up, feel like an absolute surgeon.

 

 

Good work! That's got to be good reason for a couple of beers.

 

Well done!

Thought I'd mention here for anyone in this pickle as well, that if the fill plug is seized solid, like mine is(needed a breaker bar to undo and tighten it last time), its easier to undo the half shaft and fill it from the side of the diff.