First post here, please be gentle New to working on cars as well but no stranger to mechanical work.

Is it possible to knock spider gears in a open diff out of alignment when the cross pin is out? From what I understand this will happen if you move an axle on a lsd with no cross pin.

I just bought a 2002 Mustang V6 with 164k on her. Everything is in great working order, but the rear diff has never been touched. The vent tube was junked up and both axle seals were rusted and leaking. I cleaned the vent, changed both bearings and seals. My mistakes, not turning the wheels before hand to get familiar with how it sounds (no odd sounds at speed) Turning the one axle slightly without a cross pin. After I had everything back together, not filled with oil yet (still some old stuff in there, not completely dry) I decided to give the drivers side wheel a gentle spin which spun freely and I got real nervous about how it sounds. I was expecting a smoother sound I guess and not a heavy gear turn chatter. Is this normal? Am I just dumb? Worn out gears? Turning with little oil? The cross pin wasn't stuck when installing. I know I may be overthinking it but I'd rather be 100% sure due to my inexperience.

Any help, comments, questions would be greatly appreciated. And no need to sugar coat it, I got thick skin.

 

Hopefully this will help someone. The gears in a open diff can be knocked out of alignment but you will only know because the cross pin won't line up with the spider gears. Mine were fine even after spinning the axles with no cross pin. As for the gear chatter sound with no oil, that was completely normal. After filling it up and giving it a spin with the tires on it was a big difference.