84 Rear Differential Recall

[Rick25518]

I recently purchased a 1984 corvette with the 4+3 manual transmission with only 9500 miles on it...the car is in original mint condition with the exception of the battery. The best part is that I purchased the car from the original owner. My dilema is that their was a recall on the car concerning the rear differential, campaign number 84C25, which states "CARS MAY LOSE THE WIRE SNAP RINGS THAT HOLD THE DIFFERENTIAL CROSS SHAFT IN POSITION IN THE REAR AXLE DIFFERENTIAL CASE ASSEMBLY, ALLOWING THE SHAFT TO MOVE. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: THE CROSS SHAFT MOVEMENT COULD CAUSE THE SHAFT TO CONTACT THE CARRIER OR PINION TEETH, POSSIBLY LOCKING UP THE REAR WHEELS AND RESULT IN A CRASH WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING". The car has never been back to the dealer, the owner was very particular about the car and he was the only person who ever touched it. Nothing has been done to the car, and reading early service bulletins it shows units effected up to 44342...my Vin number is 44714, a real late model in the 50K plus production. Now the service bulletin was revised to include all cars in the 84 model year. I don't want anyone at any dealer messing with the car..anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do? The car has been driven up to 9500 miles with no issues...or noise. There is a leak coming from the differential...I have not had a chance to get it up on the lift yet to check it out. I want to get all the NCRS certifications before doing anything major in terms of repairs to the car. Any and all suggestions would be great!

Rick

[John Daly]

Re: 84 Rear Differential Recall

Rick,
If you read further into the bulletin it also states "Dealers are to service all vehicles subject to this campaign at no charge to owners, regardless of mileage, age of vehicle, or ownership, from this time forward." I would recommend that you find a Chevrolet dealer in your area that sells and services Corvettes...not just two or three a year. The leak would aslo likely be repaired at the same time.
If you want to fix it yourself it doesn't look too bad unless the cross shaft is frozen in place, then the axle must be removed to press the pin out.

jd

[Rick25518]

Re: 84 Rear Differential Recall

Thanks for the input....I do understand that it is covered as far as cost go, I was just wondering if the fix is absolutley necessary. My thought process was that it was such a late model in the year that maybe it came corrected.

Rick