Missing part of one tooth on ring gear, thoughts?

[GN SBS]

Hi folks,
I put new axles in this weekend and noticed that one tooth on the ring gear was chipped a bit. There was no other damage and all else looked ok-- any problems with running this as is?

Had the rear cover off once before when I first got the car, but probably would not have noticed the chip then.

thanks,
Scott

 

[steve hughes]

Depends on where the chip is on the tooth.

 

[GN SBS]

Chip was on the end of the tooth, but did not encompass the entire flat portion of the tooth-- just a little off of the edge.

Scott

 

[Ken Cunningham]

I think the question of where the chip is may be the key. I don't think the pinion gear meshes with the whole length of the ring gear (just most of it!) It may be possible for a chip to occur outside of the pinion gears contact zone. If so you _may_ be OK with it. If the chip contacts the pinion gear at all, I would replace it without hesitation.

On the other hand, if the ring is chipped, how did it get chipped? is there a foreign body loose in the rear? What does the pinion look like? It may look worse, and I don't know if you can check it w/o removing the carrier anyway.

 

[GN SBS]

Thanks to everyone for their input!

Originally posted by Ken Cunningham

On the other hand, if the ring is chipped, how did it get chipped? is there a foreign body loose in the rear?

My friend and I did a lot of fishing around with a magnet (and fingers) and didn't turn anything up. Didn't see any evidence of the chip getting anywhere else.

Chip was on the outer edge and wasn't smack dab in the middle of the contact patch, but may have been a little.

Again, thanks for the thoughts-- if others have feedback please chime in!

Scott

 

[steve hughes]

If it's on the edge of the tooth i would smooth it out with a die grinder. The contact is in the middle of the tooth. Or at least it should be. Maybe someone before you worked on the diff and chipped the tooth removing it or dropped it? Just my opinion.

 

[GN SBS]

Any other thoughts? Thanks!
Scott