water in rear-end

["Robert W. Murphy" <rmurphy@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I posted the other day that my rear end was leaking and asked about replacing 
the pinion seal myself.  Thanks for all of the helpful responses.  The leak 
was bad enough that I couldn't wait another day to fix it.  I got under the 
car and wiped all the crud away and I could watch as the fluid dripped out 
onto the ground (and my head!)  So I topped it off and took it to my mechanic 
the next morning.  As he was replacing the seal he noticed that the fluid 
coming out was milky.  He called me a chastised me for driving through large 
puddles.  I explained to him that it hasn't rained in at least two weeks and 
even if it had been wet lately I don't drive through puddles more than an 
inch deep.  He drained the diff. and put some solvent inside to clean it up 
and topped it off with new redline.  He said he did not see any rust on the 
crown? and there is no gear whine.  Hopefully everything is OK.  

My question is how did the water get in there?  Like I said, I never drive 
through deep water and try to avoid any water when possible.  Sometimes, when 
it rains down here we get torrential down pours and I have to drive through 
this.  Could water get in some how while driving in heavy rain?  Thanks for 
any opinions.

Rob Murphy
90 Spider
Coral Springs, FL

------------------------------