Now something that I constantly see failing in the
EVO is the front pinion bearing. This is a common occurrence in both daily
drivers and EVOs that see track time.
Mitsubishi lowered the position of the oil fill/level plug in an attempt
to reduce parasitic drag. However, the lower oil level creates a lubrication
problem where the front pinion bearing doesn't receive enough oil to keep
it lubricated causing the front pinion bearing to run hot.
This overheated bearing on the right was
in a completely stock daily driver with less than 40k miles on it.
When the bearing runs hot it expands in size and will
spin on the pinion shaft which in turn causes the bearing to wear
out the shims and crush collar shims that are used to set the preload for
the pinion bearings. Eventually the preload turns into end play and this
unloads the pinion bearings, allowing the pinion shaft and the driveshaft
wobble around off of center. This quickly fatigues the front pinion
bearing causing the rollers to pit and fail while wearing out the ring &
pinion gears resulting in noisy gears that eventually break.
A makeshift solution has been to add some extra oil to
the rear differential but how much oil to add has been hard to know for
sure until now. So here is a nice solution that allows you to easily add the
additional correct amount of oil which will keep your front pinion bearing from running hot
and ruining your day.
You can get a new rear cover with the oil sight glass upgrade while your rear
differential is being serviced for MAX-LOCK for $65. The new rear cover
is CNC machined for the sight glass and new oil plug hole threads.
Includes:
-
oil sight glass
-
new fill plug & washer
If you are only wanting to purchase a new cover
that has been upgraded with the oil sight the cost is $95. I
recommend it to anyone who has an EVO regardless of your differential
being upgraded.
We
can drilled & tapped for a thermocouple to keep better
tabs on the oil temps.
BACK TO MAX-LOCK
SERVICE
