Pulled my truck out of the driveway and noticed some oil on the concrete, never a good sign, just a few drops but still oil. The truck has 50K on it. Its coming from the front differential seal on the passenger side cv joint. I've attached a couple pics of it. I guess I dont know why this would have happened, it has no pressure on the seal. My only guess is that I might have filled the front diff. a touch to full when I changed the oil at 30k but I havent noticed it till now. We have had some snow lately and I have been running in 4wd some the last month, could this be cause, the outside of the seal looks dirty, I am going to clean it and see if it will seal again as I wont need 4wd for awhile. Anyone else had this problem? Should I add a little of that seal conditioner to the oil and see if that fixes it? Looks like it would be a pain in the **** to change the seal. Let me know what you all think could have caused it and any fixes. Thanks

 

over a 100 views and no opinions. Someone has to know something!

 

Mine is doing the exact same thing. I used 4x4 over the weekend and I have two spots in the driveway. Its leaking in the same spot.

 

Front seals are prone to dirt/dust debris more so than the rear seal believe it or not. Dirt is sandpaper on your seals and gouges the fine seal that the rubber places on the axle. Using 4wd puts pressure on the axle and therefore causes it to flex slightly. The flex can cause fluid to leak out if the seal is compromised.
Those seals are a PIA because ou'll need to tear apart your front end to change them. I'd wait for warm weather to do it. If your dripping maybe a drop or 2 even every night, that is nothing and will last you till spring before you'll even need to add any oil. There's probably 20 drops of oil per 1ml of oil. 30ml per ounce. 500ml per qt. You get the idea of how long it'll take at this point even if a drop of oil off the case...

 

Cold weather can cause minor fluid leaks from time to time (I assume yor located in a cold region) As long as its just a couple of "drips" I wouldn't sweat it.

 

Im about to change the seal on mine today and I'll let you know how it goes... I'll take some pics of the job as well. I went and bought the seal at the dealer for about $11.

 

Alright, job complete. All in all it wasn't too difficult, but it took a while. I also changed the shocks on the front end as well.

The first step of the project is to take the front suspension apart to make room for the CV axle to come out. This includes taking the wheel off, disconnecting the sway bar (on the upper nut) and the tie rod end (you'll have to knock the pressed end out with hammer), remove the brake caliper and suspend it somewhere. There are several ways to get the spindle out of the way, I used the first of these. I disconnected the upper A-arm where the arms connect to the frame and let suspension hang down to get the CV axle out. Of course, this was made easier because I took the shock assembly out as well. The second method would be to separate the ball joints on the upper and lower (you risk tearing the boots and having to replace... done that before). So after you get the CV axle spline out of the hub assembly (may have to tap on the end of the axle (36mm axle nut)), now you're ready to pull the axle.

You'll need to unbolt the 4 bolts that hold the seal on before you try and pull the axle. Then you'll need to hit the CV axle from the back (away from the axle housing) with a pretty hefty hammer. The seal is pressed in. It should then pop out.

Once you get the axle out you'll need to remove the C-clip on the end of the shaft and pull the gear off the end of the shaft (should come off with a screwdriver pry). Then you'll need to use a slide hammer or puller to pull the bearing off of the shaft. Once that's done you can slide the old seal off and put the new one on and put the bearing and gear back on in reverse order. I put the axle back in and tighten the bolts in a clockwise order to get the new seal to seat in the housing.

I didn't have to drain the axle housing because it had leaked to a level that didn't require it. After I put everything back together I topped the housing off and it was all good. At the end of the day it cost me $23 and an afternoon. Goodluck!

Also, I took off the activator unit on the side of the housing but you don't need to do that for the job.

 

more pics

 

Holy crap, that sounds like a ****load of work for a $11 seal. Thanks for the information, it will be helpful when needed. I think I will probably wait until I am ready to change ball joints and tie rod ends etc. to kill two birds with one stone ( or a CV boot tears or gear craps out). Thanks again

 

My first post here, and sadly it's about an issue . I have a 2007 with the same issue. Just noticed it tonight. If you could get the Part number, that would be great. I have access to the lift, but would like to know the exact part/s to order.