28 rear question

Posted by Ray17015 On 2010/3/16 19:22:54

Jumping the gun, I attempted to turn the engine of my 28 (60 years garaged). I soaked the piston tops in penatrating oil for a week, put the tranny in high gear, and turned the rear wheels. They both turned, convinced that I had turned the engine, I went on to other projects. I then had the unnerving feeling, that this was just too easy. I did the "test" again, and found that when in neutral, the drive shaft spins, in gear, the wheels spin, but the drive shaft does not. When in neutral, I can stop the drive shaft manually. It feels smooth, like this is intentional. As soon as I release the shaft, it resumes spinning with the wheel. I opened the dif, and found no obvious bits in the bottom, although bone dry.I am completely confused by this. If the rear was broken, either neutral would not act this way, or certainly not be so smooth? At this point, I have given up on turning the motor, as it would likely just do further damage, I will get back to it later, as I am doing a complete frame off job, but I just don't understand what is happening