The pinion slid back past where it meshes with the ring. And then nothing good happened until the driver was able to stop and change his underwear. Probably woke the dead. You can see where the pinion gear is still buggered up a little in there. Hopefully some prior owner cleaned all the mess out of there. Still...as long as it doesn't happen again you may be ok. I've seen worse. If you were going to drive this around the country...say 20 or 30,000 miles a year, I'd suggest you disassemble and take a close look, but if you're just scooting around here and there, it may not be too much to worry about.
