56 Hawk Diff Quetion

[woodysrods]

I have 56 Power Hawk. The filler plugi n the diff housing has a sending unit of some kind on it???? What is this ?
Good Rroads
Brian

[leyrret]

Maybe a sending unit for a temperature gauge or some one just used it for a plug

[studegary]

If it has a wire from it, follow the wire to see where it goes. If no wire, it is probably just being used as a plug.

[woodysrods]

So this was a first for me. But I wasn't quite sure if Studebaker had some off the wall reason to have some kind of sensor in the Diff housing??
So nobody out there has seen this??
Brian

[junior]

yup, my old dana 27 had one with a wire attached to it...not sure who put it on, may have been my dad. I'll ask him next time I see him. Junior.

[woodysrods]

Thanks Junior
That is exactly what I found when I rolled under my 56 Power Hawk to wipe the grease off so I could see the gear ratio tag......never did see it.
Boy these old Stude rears were greasy. Diff cover seal, bad covers, or pinion seal......something was week on these????
Brian

[barnlark]

That has to be a temperature sending unit, but doesn't sound stock. Never heard of those discussed here, at least. Unless that diff was used for racing, I'm not sure why a gauge would be needed for a sender. Factory seals on any rear end get old and start to leak, so that's where most of that crud comes from around that area. Stude diffs can't be the only greasy ones you've ever seen?! I don't think they were necessarily weak. Getting the pinion seals installed right is tricky, I remember that. Silicone works fine on my cover now.

The tags are under that grease somewhere, unless someone has been there before you and got lazy when they put it back together. That could also be why it was a leaker. Good luck. It's sure nice to have a clean differential after the dirty work. I sure appreciate them when I see them done properly at shows.

[woodysrods]

Almost every car I have ever built has a Ford Rear end in it. 8" or 9". No leaky diff covers for me.
But I do plan to put a stock rear in Sandi's 61 Hawk.
I have two to choose from. The one from her 61 with 3.07 gears and the low milage one from my 56 Hawk with ?? gears.
Both are greasy and do not have flaged axles.
Just MORE money I guess.
Good Roads
Brian