Differential is very dirty on the outside
 

Hi all,

Been under the car and the rear differential is very dirty on the outside, very black looking.

I was thinking about cleaning this all up but then I thought that if the fluid was leaking and it then sealed up around the differential and stopped the leak then if I cleaned off the crud then it might start leaking again and then that would be a problem.

Is there a way of checking the fluid level on this?

I have two ramps that I use to go under the car but no jack stands or anything like that.

Thankss, also can I post up pictures on here easily to show you all what I can see?


Thanks

Just to add that I have history documents saying that the diff oil was changed 23,000 miles ago/4 years.


Thanks very much


Alex

nope cleaning is not going to make it worse. it could lead you to the location of the leak as well. much easier to see were oil is coming from when clean. if form back or rear cover your lookin at a low cost fix. to check lube level in the rear end there is a plug about 1/3 the way up on the center section. you pull the plug and if the oil level is even with the hole or very close to it then your fine.