The only people that don't make mistakes are those who don't do anything. Those who do, just get better at catching and fixing their own mistakes. Well done welding that hole, didn't think the MIG gun would fit in a tight spot like that.

Hahaha your boy, the best commentator ever!

A diesel flush is cheap, but I wouldn't put it under much load. Just run it full of diesel with the wheels in the air.

Last week I changed oil on one of my injection molding machines at work. The new oil (renolin hlp46) has such emulsifier Attributes. You should just speak to an industrial oil supplier who can recommend a good oil. Btw such Videos showing mistakes that were made are highly appreciated. This is the real life, where mistakes happen and it's pretty cool to learn how to deal with tem.

Honestly, for the amount of service that you do regularly because you actually use your vehicles, I'd just fill with oil and change a couple of times as you suggested and watch things in another 5 or 6k miles. As for cleaning out, hear me clearly (As an Engineer), while I know it sounds crazy but once I tested using a bottle of seafoam and a trans fluid in a 3.8 liter (99 grand prix GT) to not only clear out milkshake from an intake manifold leak but also to free up sticking gunked up stuff from a motor with 185k miles that was used by an old man before I bought it an never saw above 2k rpm and maybe 50mph while he owned it. I ran six 5 minute cycles of this elixir never running the motor up to full temp and after cleaning out the sludge from oil filter manifold and pulling the oil pan, that motor was SPOTLESS, and we ran that car all the way up to nearly 289k miles and NEVER had an issue with that engine. We only stopped using that car because I wrecked it. In this case I imagine you could probably use seafoam mixed in and rather than drive it under load, maybe run it on jack stands in the garage. I would probably even pre-heat the oil in a tank with band heaters, pump it into the axle and run multiple short cycles carefully watching the first few and gauge your next steps on what you see. My bigger concern would be that since you've used it for over 12k miles, you've likely pulled in alot of grit / dirt since you've wheeled in dirty water and that hole was pretty large. Not sure that you'll truly get all that out but at the end of the day it will still be a little bit of a guessing game as you watch those first few oil changes regardless of what elixir you come up with. Look at the bright side, you're super NATE, my KZfaq hero LOL. If all else fails, you'll have another great video maybe next year on building a new and improved 1 ton axle for the Rover and you'll get double the views, comments, and likes because you'll be so humble on how you got into that situation in the first place and more people will flock to your channel as you then approach 350k subscribers. It's a win win buddy. Wait, now I have an idea for my little channel jeepNdirt. Maybe I can get that axle from you and start a build series on using "Nate's old stuff" on a JLUR...... and we can live stream across country and the whole 9 yards. LOL. Nahhh, I'm doing this for fun, less stress. Good stuff man.

This is all part of building anything. Good news is that you found it and repaired it. This is why I love this channel. It’s not a tv production that get edited not to show the screw ups. Thanks for the honesty and showing us garage guys that it’s ok to mess up

Nate: I remember reading that AMSOIL products WILL mix with water. May be an expensive way to flush out the diff, but it will protect things simultaneously. Good luck and mega credit for sharing successes and failures. We all learn from them

You did not lose me! Thank you for your honesty! Thank you for showing us how to find a problem like this! I will use it next time I weld up a axle! Respect!

My first thought for breaking up and flushing out this little chemistry experiment is to put in a cup or so of WD40, run it on the stands a bit then drain. It's originally intended purpose is to displace water and I would surmise, since it is available in larger, non aerosol containers, that this may be just what the designers and engineers might have had in mind.

Use wd-40 to remove moisture! That was its original purpose as a tool. You might need a few cans!

I really don't think you need to worry about it. Clean it out as best you can with solvents (like kerosine/diesel or gasoline), rinse with brake clean and put fresh oil in it. Change oil in 400 miles like you plan and see what it looks like. You've been running it with (probably) a lot more water in it than will be left so I doubt any little bit of water that might not have mixed with the oil would do any damage and will either evaporate out the vent or eventually mix. Also the action of the gears will mechanically emulsify the oil water mixture which is why you get the milkshake in the 1st place.

If you really REALLY want to use an emulsifier, sure... Use dish soap... Don't use an emulsifier :) Heat the axle... Turns out one of the advantages of oil is high boiling point, but you don't need to go to the boiling point of water... If you can get the axle up to at least 60 degrees (celcius, it's probably like 201354 degrees f or something) for a few hours you'll have it all dry and no problems... I'd say go for 80 to be extra super sure if you can and hold it there for a few hours... I'd suggest using a few welding blankets and your shop heater if you've got those... Pull the axles out, duct the heat in the back through the open cover and out through the open axle tubes... Realistically, depending on your heater's output volume you may not even need the blankets... But check the outside temperature of the tube after an hour and see if it's up to 80 and go for it... Make sure you never crack 120 degrees C though, because that'll likely be the breakdown point of at least some of the seal materials and breather pipes... Good luck :)

Nate, this is just another one of those SH** happens things...You found the issue and repaired it! You showed that you are a humble person and not afraid of making mistakes and showing it all in your video. I will say great job in diagnosing the issue and correcting it! Nothing to be embarrassed about, shows you are not a robot.......

When this happened to me when I was a young kid mudding in deep water all the old experienced mechanics had me overfill the rear axle with clean used motor oil cut with clean diesel. Then place it on jack stands and let the rear axle spin with no load on it to agitate the mixture inside for about 15 minutes and pull the cover and drain it. After that, I sprayed it out with brake cleaner and let it dry overnight. After one cycle, there was no sign of moisture in the housing. If there was they said just do it again. Overfilling ensures the wheel bearings get rinsed out.

Nate, Thanks for the honesty! That is the beauty of KZfaq, we can all learn and grow from each other. Well done Sir 🤙

What an incredible video! Love that you show your mistakes, just another reason why I love your channel so much! Glad you found and were able to fix this… keep up the amazing work!👍

What I love about your content is that you plan your work and plan your filming. Sometimes life doesn't go to plan, I appreciate that you show the mistakes and in this case how you found them. Keep up the excellent work!

That is one heck of an into with your son haha! Kids are so awesome, got to love their curiosity and ways they describe things. Also bummer about the hole in the axle, but glad you found it! And don't worry, we all make mistakes. Usually for me it happens when I push myself and I'm tired. Great learning opportunity for your group of followers, even though I wouldn't wish that situation upon anyone.

Nate, I like your attitude, great video. 1- Sea Foam. 2- Marvel Mystery Oil. 3- Moly type bearing grease. When I retired I went to work in an auto parts store, where an older employee introduced me to Sea Foam. I didn't believe his stories at first and then had cause to try it. I now buy it by the case and use in all my equipment (over10 years). It bonds with water, alcohol, and cleans. Marvel Mystery oil stories since I was 5 years old, it protects and lubricates in extreme oil abuse cases like nothing else. I have been a gear head almost 6 decades and I was always asked how do I make my stuff run so dependable, cheap and fast. Keep up the good work!

Acetone works well for cleaning up an area before weld prep as it will evaporate completely quickly. We use it all the time for prepping pipe and fittings as they often come with a light coat of oil to prevent rust.

Good morning Nate. You could use Corotech V600 by Benjamin Moore oil and grease emulsifier. Safe for steel, plastic, fiberglass, brass, vinyl. Leaves no residue and you can flush with water, etc. It’s kinda expensive, about $50.00 per gallon.

Making mistakes is part of life Nate, thanks for showing us your honesty not many people do these days. Love the channel more because of it 👍🤘❤️🇨🇦

Mistakes happened. Your one of the few who will admit the mistake and then show the mistake so others can learn from it. It is this type of honesty and integrity that keeps me watching your channel, also the cool content. Thank you

Always love the videos and always love the honesty and transparency you and this channel put out awesome content which is why I keep coming back to watch all your videos

This is why I like watching your videos, not only do you share your methods of fabrication you are equally not ashamed to admit your mistakes, so many people on KZfaq would have just covered this up and said “yeah it’s been 100%”. Keep up the good work mate, also can’t wait too see the zook build finished 👌🏻

Would a marine outboard gear case oil work? I mean, they're made to be under water. I wouldn't worry about it man, honestly. You found and fixed the problem.

Doh! Well... Thanks for being genuine and transparent. All of us have neglected some maintenance point at some time or other.

I wasn't aware of the dangers of brakeclean and welding. Thank You.

I trussed a Sterling 10.5 prior to you building yours and remember wondering if you had plug welded the old vent tube hole. I figured you did but I don't remember seeing it on video. When I first started watching this video my first guess was the old vent tube hole. Now I am going to have to go check my axle to make sure I got that hole plugged well. Thanks for the video Nate.

Your son's description of the oil in the water was accurate 🤣🤣

Thanks for sharing this! I’ve had the milkshake curse in my rear Dana44a for awhile now and I’ve just been assuming it’s getting in the through the rubber plug on water crossings. Come to find this last week that there is oil seeping out where the tube is pressed into the housing…so it would seem the 44a finally lived up to its reputation after over 25 years of use. But I like the idea of pressure testing or smoke testing it before I condemn it! Also, mistakes are the best teachers, we all get to learn from yours this time so hopefully we don’t have to make them too. I’m glad you share the good and the bad with us 🤘🏼

Congrats on the award!! Enjoy your videos. Keep up great work!!👍🏻😎

Thank you Nate! Loved the video and this will help keep me from making the same mistake.

We need more videos like this! (though they don't all have to be from you) Too many videos are of when things go perfectly well, even camping trips! We need videos that show mistakes, goof ups, bad decisions, etc. not only so we can all feel human and not less than, but so we can learn from each other's mistakes. Nobody's perfect, starting with me, and we all need to realize that. Great video not only for the content, but also your honesty and attitude about the whole thing. I love that you're asking for advice...Nate from Dirt Lifestyle! 😂

thanks for sharing this sometimes its hard to do but its the best for the community

Thanks for being upfront and honest! Love the content, always. What's up with the Taco? I saw on Dave's channel and I've been wondering what broke?

I have an old tractor that condensate a lot in the transmission. And I drain and run and flush with desil fuel. And drain and refill with new filters and gear oil. And cleans everything pretty well. Love the channel thanks

thank you for showing mistakes, that’s how we all learn! Always look forward to your videos 🤙

I appreciate showing the mistake and the troubleshooting process.

Back in the day I found a used 12-bolt rear end out of a Firebird that had eaten an axle and bearing. The gears and limited slip were in great shape but the inside of the tubes looked like someone had dumped the chip tray from my lathe in there. I took out the axles out and used a siphon sprayer (compressor solvent sprayer) to spray paint thinner through the axle tubes while I had the rear end on jackstand that I could rotate the rear axle on. I would catch the paint thinner and run it through a coffee filter to catch the chips and then spray it again. When I had sprayed it out many times and it good and clean of chips, I got a new gallon of paint thinner (paint thinner was cheaper back then) and I sprayed it out one more time and disposed of the sprayed only once thinner. In your case, I would remove the axles, and spray the tubes out with a solvent. You could even use diesel fuel which would be relatively cheap. You could use WD40 first on the bearings and then use the diesel fuel. The diesel fuel that is left will be OK to mix with the gear oil. Good Luck.

Great vid, missing a small spot like that trussing would be easy to do with all that’s going on on that mod. Great fix!

I wouldn’t be embarrassed man, mistakes happen, it’s a part of learning!!

It is ok Nate! We all make mistakes on a daily bases! Nice fix !

Having a problem is bad, but hey, solving it feels awesome!

Use Sea Foam engine or trans tune, both remove moisture, have used it lots, works great, easy to find at Napa etc.

Diversy Leaver (Dubois) makes an emulsifier. I work in manufacturing that uses cool water to run through heat exchangers. Once upon a time, my technician compromised a copper tube heat exchanger while cleaning it out and I had hydraulic oil in a 500 gallon chiller cooling system. We ran the emulsifier for a week and were allowed to drain it into the sewer system without a discharge permit.

I love mistakes. Makes you human. I make a lot. It’s good you show us mistakes. Other utubers may edit it.

I have used a shop vac with hoses on backwards to pressurise things like exhaust tubing looking for bubbles in the past. Probably worth a try if youre worried about ruining something with higher pressure.

Mistakes do happen, great content😁 keeping subscribers engage makes it for good topic of discussion

Wheel it! Thank you for sharing & great job servicing frequently enough to actually find it

Your contents are excellent bro 👊🏽

Nate if you are looking for something to flush your axle with, I would say try a can of Sea Foam, it works very well for cleaning up sludge in engines and also helps with removing moisture. They also make a cleaner for transmissions called Trans Tune. If you wanted to give it a try. But if it were my decision I think that I would try Sea Foam engine formula, and just run it outside in a safe area on some jack stands and maybe articulate it occasionally with the height of the stands for about 20-30 minutes and then change the gear oil. That way it wouldn't be be putting a heavy load on the bearings during flushing it. Tim from Wisconsin.

Nate. Im a little older than you. Was a dealer master tech for 20yrs. Been a field heavy equip mech for now 10 yrs. One thing ive learned. "CHIT Happens".. Now fir emusifier... Kerosene! It has fairly low flash. Evaporates clean. Think I would have put the rover on jack stands fill the full of kerosene put it in gear and let it just idle spin for 30 minutes drain it,let sit over night, fill with oil same thing, drain it again the final fill it.

thanks for fighting through the self-deprecating

Something I use quite a bit cleaning up tight areas on the derby cars is a cheap media blaster. It gets into places nothing else will and leaves you a nice clean surface for welding.

That’s incredible…I did not think that was going to be the issue

The weld looks great from here mate😂

I learned something, thank you!

I love the fact that you're not ruffled by some of the mistakes that happen. Having multiple projects and prioritizing the things that need to be done, well, sometimes things get missed. Thanks for having the critical thinking skills to brainstorm a fix! most of us would probaly miss it. Your videos and skills are stellar! Can't wait for the next one :)

I commented on the IG post because I thought you had covered up the hole for the brake line fitting that screws into that side there where the truss is. I make lots of mistakes. I just try not to admit it. 😂😂😂😂

NATE I'm glad to see you are not perfect... Now I can get some sleep... luv ya...

Love to see jr. helping out. He earned a chocolate shake after this appearance 😂 👋🇸🇪

Laundry detergent (liquid) is very good at breaking down oils. I use that to wash my hands when I'm wrenching and out of fast orange. Might work with flushing clean some oily areas.

Pull the shafts get a cheap pump sprayer like the kind you use for weeds that has a wand fill it with mineral spirits and hose out the tubes and housing, it won't hurt anything and will clean it out really quick, learned this working for a guy who builds alot of rears and has been since the 60s

HI NATE 👋 THANK YOU FOR JUST BEING YOU / HONEST ! HARD TO FIND NOW DAYS ! I WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU BUT I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF HARD , HONEST WORKING PEOPLE / MALE OR FEMALE & KNOW MATTER WHAT AGE , ETC / OUT THERE THAT HAVE TRIED ALL KINDS OF STUFF TO FIX PROBLEMS LIKE THIS UNTIL THEY FOUND THE BEST SOLUTION FOR WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ✔ CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT YOU FIGURE OUT FOR YOUR SITUATION ! BE SAFE ! HAVE FUN ! ENJOYED 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 🍨 GOD BLESS YOU ALL ALWAYS ON YOUR ADVENTURES 🙏 THANK YOU 🙏 LOVE WATCHING YOUR SON / OR DAUGHTER WANTING TO HELP HIS FATHER ! MAKING IT FUN SAFE & A LEARNING EXPERIENCE WITH THEM REALLY NOT KNOWING IT IS ! WAY TO GO DAD !

Good out of the box thinking. It’s the nature of the beast.

I've used ATF in similar situations. ATF has detergents that help breakdown sludge. I don't see why it wouldn't work here. A couple of warm drains, and a good cleaning before the final gear oil.

Ballistal is a German made water soluble oil I use for firearms. I use it mixed with water for black powder gun cleaning. It mixes well with water. Maybe it would help? You can get it off Amazon.

Hello Nate you could try heat it comes in a small bottle it's for eliminating water in the in diesel.

Smoke generator. I skipped the $1000 Snap on model and did a $30 home build. Paint can, Ni-chrome wire, LPG regulator, tiki torch wick, baby oil, some wire, fittings and hose. Now that I have it, I use it all the time finding leaks in anything! Wish I knew about it 20 years ago!

That "milkshake" IS emulsified oil and water. Emulsifying can be done mechanically, and a ring and pinion does a great job! Just drain and fill with fresh, and then drive it. What little water remains will evaporate out. Shorter breather tubes make it come out faster if you're not doing deep crossings...

Dawn dish soap worked great on an oil filled cooling system for me. Liquified every bit of oil.

I used to work for a pump company, when a diesel pump would quit on us and water would over take the area and submerge the pump. we would drain the oil and fill them with diesel to clean out the hydraulic tanks. hope this helps

We had these problem when I worked in the rental equipment business…we never found a better way than doing multiple fluid changes ….remember most oils are hygroscopic, it will pull the water into the into the oil. Change the fluid and run it.

Hey Nate you might try ethanol, it absorbs both water and hydrocarbons. Couple of rinse and repeat’s should do the trick.

Air testing an axle! You’re still a plumber at heart! And is that a a Chinese Diesel heater I hear in the background?

Didn't feel like the past owner of my classic truck did much as far as servicing it correctly so I decided to run Amsoil gear oil in both diffs when I added the Yukon lockers.

Would love to see you show us to how to replace a pinion seal, home mechanic style. My front one is leaking and man it is annoying, but shops want a lot to fix it.

Thank you.

Try the HEET stuff they sell to remove water from fuel tanks. Worth a shot.

Trans tune by Seafoam can be use to dispute water in hydraulic systems. Trans could possibly be mixed with gear and ran for a short time and maybe change.

Fill the rear axle with diesel fuel and putt it around the drive way, dump it a few times and you’ll be golden. That’s what we do on are 4 wheeler and sxs after sinking them. Diesel absorbs water and has a bit of lubrication to it.

Nice video lots of love from India 🇮🇳🇮🇳 You should add Hindi subtitles

Nate, I use "BG" products. I'll check to see what they offer for diff. fluid cleaners? Good luck!!!

You just don’t want to use chlorinated brake-cleaner and then weld without allowing it to evaporate. Non-chlorinated won’t produce phosgene, and even with chlorinated brake cleaner, it’s only if there is wet or pooling cleaner as you are welding (which would be really hard since it evaporates so fast).

Only recommendation I would make would be to cut a little bit of an angle on the end of the PEX tube so, while the vacuum is running, the edge of the tube can fit further into the crevasses and knock things loose that the vacuum can't with suction alone.

Dawn Powerwash is awesome for cleaning up oil (when mixed with water and brake clean).

Cleaning with brake clean is fine as long as you give it enough time to evaporate off before welding, or help it along with a heat gun. Non-chlorinated carb cleaner is also an alternative.

Make sure u clean the dif vent line out. Stuff likes to hide in those lines bc not a lot of air flow happens

You might want to think about outboard motor lower unit gear oil. It has emulsifiers built in for underwater applications.

Amsoil makes this engine/trans flush you add before draining oil which is a mild detergent. You can look into it and maybe it’ll be your solution to getting most of the water out.

Dawn dish soap. Hope this helps. God bless and stay well.

Other leaks won’t show themselves if there’s a large enough hole to vent. As you said or maybe already have done is fix that one then test the whole axle again. Leak by leak if there’s more than one.

For as often as you change the fluid, you should really consider using lube locker gasket. They are re-usable, and seal really well.

I had the similar situation. I filed my diff with diesel fuel, jacked the rear and and drove it in 5th gear for couple minutes draind the diesel new oil.

I normally run marine grade gear oil and grease in situations where I know it's going to see allot of water. Might be helpful.

I have been off-roading and a mechanic for years. I am not convinced that the milkshake can harm your differential. It definitely has lubricating properties, and as you explained it is very hard to remove. I looks bad, makes you paranoid. But I have seen literally no proof that it can hurt anything. Now just water, yes, but the milkshake?

Use WD-40 before you put it back together. Regular wd-40. It actually means wet to dry. It will pull the moisture and water out and will thin the oil so you can get it cleaned up. It was first used to keep moisture out of electronics on space ships due to moisture from compressed air they used to breathe in the ship so they had to keep the electronics dry. But later found out it did so much more. Hope this helps.

I wonder if you leave the diff cover off and use and space heater directly on your axle, let it sit there for a few hours. Should be able to dry it out most of the way and after another oil change/flush be good.

I rebuild diffs for a living so what I’m about to say comes from 32 years as a mechanic and the past 18 or so specifically on diff rebuilds. What you’re thinking about removing water isn’t a good idea. Good emulsifiers for water/oil mixes will contain alcohol as you said, that will swell and destroy seals causing leaks AND ultimately water intrusion. Water in the oil will destroy the bearings especially in the full float hubs which act like roach motels, oil checks in but it doesn’t check out. You’re only decent solution is removal, complete disassembly. Manually clean everything with mineral spirits followed by brake cleaner. Do yourself a favor at that point and replace bearings and seals in everything. Anything less would prove to be a waste of time and money.