Rear driveshaft/rear diff leaking?

[COJeeper]

I noticed the rear differential cover looked a little darker and less dirty than other parts of the Jeep while driving our other vehicle into the garage the other night. First thought was a leak of something. Climbed under the Jeep and saw behind the rear drive shaft, looks like something is leaking. Is this normal?

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[chevymitchell]

I noticed the rear differential cover looked a little darker and less dirty than other parts of the Jeep while driving our other vehicle into the garage the other night. First thought was a leak of something. Climbed under the Jeep and saw behind the rear drive shaft, looks like something is leaking. Is this normal?

That's just a pinion seal leaking.

Simple replacement. I can walk you through it if you need help.

 

[COJeeper]

That's just a pinion seal leaking.

Simple replacement. I can walk you through it if you need help.

Thanks Shawn!

So not normal. I have to take my 2.0 in for the water pump leak TSB so this should be covered under warranty.

Did you by chance make a DIY write up I can follow? I like to do these things myself to learn about the Jeep if I can.

I appreciate you man!

Also, with your shared knowledge, I just found this video. Easy to find a "how to" once you know what things are called... pinion seal. Never heard of that before now.

 

[chevymitchell]

Thanks Shawn!

So not normal. I have to take my 2.0 in for the water pump leak TSB so this should be covered under warranty.

Did you by chance make a DIY write up I can follow? I like to do these things myself to learn about the Jeep if I can.

I appreciate you man!

Also, with your shared knowledge, I just found this video. Easy to find a "how to" once you know what things are called... pinion seal. Never heard of that before now.

I didn't make one, but I can make one here real quick:

• Acquire the following
  • 3 Jaw Puller
  • New Pinion Seal - I have several if you can't find one anywhere
• Remove Driveshaft
• Remove Pinion Nut
• Using 3 Jaw Puller, remove flange
• Using a pry bar, remove seal
• Clean old sealant from housing
• On the new seal, apply extra RTV around where the thin line of sealant that it comes with
• Install seal - Hammer straight on. Bending the seal is something that can easily be done. Take your time here. Don't pinch your skin between the seal and the housing... hurts like a mofo. Lol
• Install Flange
• Tighten Pinion Nut until there is no movement in the flange. Once you feel there is no movement, stop. Do not tighten past this point. The preload is already set. If you go further than this, then you can set the pre-load too high and you'll end up with other issues
• Reinstall driveshaft
• You're done.

Check fluid levels if you lose a bunch, but it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[COJeeper]

@JeepCares - Can you please pay me to do this repair work? I don't trust any dealership to do this properly and well. Just pay me what it will cost me for parts and labor if this wasn't under warranty and I'll do it myself.

I think the dealership techs will overtighten the pinion nut, not clean things before replacing the seal, not ensure alignment for the drive shaft balance, and over torque bolts like they do on my lug nuts. Sorry, I've had nothing but bad experiences at Jeep dealers with their techs so I've lost trust.

 

[chevymitchell]

@JeepCares - Can you please pay me to do this repair work? I don't trust any dealership to do this properly and well. Just pay me what it will cost me for parts and labor if this wasn't under warranty and I'll do it myself.

I think the dealership techs will overtighten the pinion nut, not clean things before replacing the seal, not ensure alignment for the drive shaft balance, and over torque bolts like they do on my lug nuts. Sorry, I've had nothing but bad experiences at Jeep dealers with their techs so I've lost trust.

I wish they would do this...

I should be getting checks on a weekly basis. Lol

 

[COJeeper]

I wish they would do this...

I should be getting checks on a weekly basis. Lol

Worth a try.

 

[COJeeper]

I took it to Mike Shaw Jeep in Greeley Colorado and they said there's nothing wrong, it's just dirt. I call BS on that. They said they washed it off. It's still there. This is why I talk so much crap about stealerships.

 

[jjvincent]

It's weeping, not leaking. On the other hand, they should replace it because as we all know, it'll leak again. You'd think in this day of age Dana could get a pinion seal to not leak for at least 100K. Be it any manufacturer that uses that brand of stick axle, they leak.

 

[chevymitchell]

I took it to Mike Shaw Jeep in Greeley Colorado and they said there's nothing wrong, it's just dirt. I call BS on that. They said they washed it off. It's still there. This is why I talk so much crap about stealerships.

If you don't fix the weep, the axle will breathe through the seal, as well as, the breather tube. You'll want to fix this before submerging the axle. It's a super simple DIY fix. I can walk you through it if you need me to. I believe I did a step by step earlier in this thread.

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