rear differential leak

[cactuar167]

I have a leak in my rear differential...not at the cover...but more towards the front of the car....the dealer said pinion seal..but im not sure. How hard is this to change? the dealer wants to charge me 240ish to change it...thats 170 for the differential fluid change...which I can already do!!! if i cant fix it, id rather just add fluid as I go...it will be cheaper in the long run...that is if its not harmful to the differential. thanks guys.

[JDPascal]

Originally Posted by cactuar167

I have a leak in my rear differential...not at the cover...but more towards the front of the car....the dealer said pinion seal..but im not sure. How hard is this to change? the dealer wants to charge me 240ish to change it...thats 170 for the differential fluid change...which I can already do!!! if i cant fix it, id rather just add fluid as I go...it will be cheaper in the long run...that is if its not harmful to the differential. thanks guys.

Just how bad is the "leak"??

Dirt collecting on a slight oil seepage?
a small drip (drop forming over time)
oil running down the diff case


If it is one of the last two, it will get worse sooner than later and a diff rebuild is more than a seal replacement.


And did you say DEALER?????? Check with a recommended private shop.

The seal replacement involves removing the drive shaft/ujoint at the diff yoke, removing the pinion nut, pulling the yoke removing the old seal, installing the new seal, inspecting/repairing the yoke seal surface, reinstalling the yoke, tightening the pinion nut to 175 ftlb torque and installing the drive shaft.

It is a 2 hour job if the tech is really slow and takes a few coffee breaks. You don't even need to intensionally drain any gear lube, just top it up when you are done.

The fix on the yoke seal surface if it has a groove worn into it is a "speedie sleeve". Gives you a new smooth surface for the seal to ride on otherwise wet sand it with 600 grit body type sand paper and varsol.

There might be a few other details and the torque is a minimum guestimate - check the specs for your diff - but thats the basics.

Now if the pinion bearings are worn and loose and causing the seal to leak - thats another thing......

JD

[cactuar167]

yea i think its the third...it is a drip that comes from the seal and drips down the diff case and collects at the base of the diff cover. not part of the gasket. I am going to find a someone else to do it...i know people that know people that work on jeeps. anyways...thanks AGAIN JD for the helpful info!

You can get away with a cheap fix by cleaning the area and useing RTV as a "outer seal" this MAY work for a little while, but by far is not a "fix".

The have to take the yoke that holds the joint to the driveshaft off, it's no way an easy thing to do, that ammount sounds right.

I would have payed that for my 12bolt, try doing putting a 12 chevy together out of the car, tighting that dam nut was nuts!

[Audiobahn77]

Listen to JD! I just rebuilt my rear diff in 3 and a half hours w/ a friend. Not fun, but not that hard with the right tools. The master rebuild kit is the way to go!

[PLM-1]

Mine has been fixed many times. It's a Jeep thing i'm told. It's annoying and it stinks when the fluid gets on the exhaust.

My 30 and 44 have no problems, I would blame it on where the jeep lives, and lack of oil changes to the diff.

It's not a jeep thing i'm sure, I would call it "you should have changed the oil" thing...

My old 72 LeMans 10bolt high school car (i'm 31) never leaked oil, this was dew to my overbearing fluid changes that I never really needed to do, but was thinking I had to because my car was fast, and it really was not lol, but what the hell most of us did the glass packs and 93oct gas , it seemed like the thing to do lol...