Hey guys, I have a 03 2wd 2500. I have rear end fluid leaking out of the back of my hub and also it appears that its coming out of my wheel studs and leaking out from between my hub and my rim. There is a seal leaking, but which the hell one? I went to the autoparts store and asked for a axle seal but they gave me the big seal that is pressed into the back of the hub (grease seal?). I replaced it just for the hell of it. Is there supposed to be fluid in the axle housing at all? if not, it must be a seal in the side of the rear end thats leaking. The rear end was over full, which probably was what caused it. I had the thing all apart and didn't see any seals at all except the one I changed. There wasn't even one on the end of the axle shaft. Help!!!

 

There should have been a flange gasket on the axle assy. You should get a new flange gasket and torque the flange bolts to 95 ft pounds. Also ck the rear axle vent for any leakage.

 

yes there was an axle flange gasket. I sealed it on both sides with RTV. It was never leaking. Where is the vent located? Should there be rear end fluid in the housing at all? I don't see how that flange gasket would seal off any fluid. Its made out of paper and it doesnt even have a center?

 

damn it, this is what i was afraid of, not too many responses...

 

Sorry i was in another section. The vent has a rubber hose going into a block on the top of the rear axle assy.

 

should there be fluid in the axle housing? what keeps it from leaking out? why is the **** coming out of my wheel studs. Is there seals in the side of the rear end that keep fluid OUT of the axle housings? when I pulled the axle out, is it normal to have fluid leak out??? how full should the rear diff be?

 

No,you shouldn't have any leaks coming from the housing or the wheel studs. The fluid level should be 3mm below the fill hole. Did you ck for maybe brake fluid leaking from the wheel studs.

 

Its diff fluid. Do you think i should run some rtv around the base of the studs? I don't know what else to do. So i guess its normal for gear oil to fill the axle housing? It doesn't seem to be coming out of the rear of the hub anymore since i changed that seal. It is still leaking out of a couple of the studs and coming out from between my wheel and hub.

 

You should have an axle seal that's in the end of the axle tube that seals around the axle shaft preventing the oil from leaking from the diff. Oil should be in the tubes to keep the bearings in tubes cooled and lubricated.

Jack up the truck and pull the wheels off on that side and pull the axle shaft out and inspect the seal in there.

 

Its a completely different setup than whats in your truck. Does this seal exist in a full floating system? The axle just plugs into the diff. You can remove it without even taking the wheel off. If such a seal exists, then how does fluid get in the axle housing in the first place? It doesn't have its own fill plug. I ran RTV around all 8 studs to stop the leak. The rear of the hub is still not leaking since I changed the seal.