I just replaced the rear differential fluid about a week ago and greased up all the fittings and yesterday after a 200 mile ride noticed that fluid was leaking at the front of my rear differential, some of it had splattered the underside of the truck. I do not know if there is a relationship between the work done and the current leakage of fluid.

I am going through the parts book with the schematics and it mentions "with Trac-Lok" and "without Trac-Lok". I have a Limited Slip Differential, according to the truck's Equipment Identification. Is Trak-Lok the same as Limited Slip Differential? How do I know if I have Trac-Lok?

Since the fluid seems to be coming out at the front of the rear differential, I am thinking that the Pinion Oil Sealer might be the problem. Anyone have any thoughts if my thinking is correct? If so, how involved is it to replace the Oil Sealer? And, are the parts easy to come by?

 

you might want to find a shop that deals with that sort of thing. i think you might be able to replace it without completely tearing apart the rear end but i could maybe see it being hard to get the yoke off without special tools. rock auto has the pinion seals for less than $10 so i could not see them being too expensive locally. just a bit expensive if you have to get a shop to do the work.

 

Thanks Crazzywolfie, I will read up in the Service Manual to see how much a pain this will be. Seems RockAuto has a few different ones, I will have to figure out which one and maybe even check with the local Napa store. I sure don't want to tear apart the rear differential after just replacing the fluid.

 

The pinion seal is a fairly straight forward job, remove the drive shaft, remove the nut holding the yoke to the pinion, tap off the yoke, pop out the seal, tap in the new one reinstall the yoke to 250-270 lbs\ft.

Since you have what looks like a D60HD you don't have a crush-collar to be concerned about but you should double check the back-lash before final torque.

Also check to be certain that your breather on the axle tube is open\clear not plugged up which can cause to much pressure in the housing and cause leakage around the pinion.

 

Thanks sls001! I will check the breather/vent. I did not notice it, but after checking the PDF schematic, I see it listed.

What do you mean by "back-lash before final torque"?

The manual mentions using a "seal installation tool" to make sure it enters the housing squarely and is tapped in to its full depth. Any suggestions on what can be used for this tool?

Also, any thoughts on overcoming the lack of the flange tool?

I see that the Oil Seal is also instock at Advance Auto in addition to the one at RockAuto.

Thanks again sls001 and Crazzywolfie!