2nd front pinion seal in 40,000 miles

[JARichard]

OK, I had the front pinion seal changed at 54,000 miles and now at 91,000 miles. What would do this? Constantly???? I dont off-road or mud ride. Maybe an occasional gravel driveway or shipping yard. But never at high speeds.

Anyone else have this problem?

The first time it happened i figured i caught some trash in flood waters i was crossing. This time i havent seen flood waters or anything remotely close to covering the axles.

 

[tkerrigan]

Have you checked the vent tube from the axle housing to see if it's plugged? Rough spot on seal area of pinion?

 

[JARichard]

Tom,

I checked the vent plug last time. And i have considered a rough spot or a gear or bearing coming apart. After the dealer changed the first seal, I drove for a week and changed the differential oil again. No signs of wear and NO leaks until this week. If it was a rough spot wouldnt this start immediately and not 40,000 miles after the seal is changed?

 

[tkerrigan]

I've had rear axle seals leak because of light rust spots at 20K miles. It's possible that the sealing area may need a Chicago Rawhide speedi sleeve. I don't know if your pinion uses a crush shim or a shim pack. If a speedi sleeve is needed, you might try having somebody brace the pinion from the front while you drive on the sleeve. Saying again, I don't know how the pinion is shimmed. I'm sure somebody else on this board can help you with that part.

 

[willysrule]

Pull your front driveshaft and have a driveshaft shop check it for balancing... when the driveshaft on one of my Jeeps, that I drove on the road, was out of balance it use to eat pinion seals quite often, i guess the vibration would cause them to wear out faster... . I can't say that is your problem for sure, but it's something else to check...

 

[bpenrod]

My rear pinion seal started leaking long before I felt the vibration for the u-joint that dies shortly after. Replaced the u-joint and ordered the seal but it stopped dripping before I got around to replacing it. I'm holding on to it for now because I'm pretty certain the seal is damaged and won't be long before it is needed!!

 

[JARichard]

OK! How would I check to see if it is a bad U-joint? Everything underneath is solid.

 

[Tim]

OK! How would I check to see if it is a bad U-joint? Everything underneath is solid.

Grab the driveshaft and start shaking it.

 

[willysrule]

OK! How would I check to see if it is a bad U-joint? Everything underneath is solid.

make sure that the driveshaft has a little free rotation, if it's rotated till it stops one way or another you will have a hard time seeing if the joints are bad... if this requires you to jack the truck up you may have to... .



grab the yoke on the diff. side and hold it tight, grab the yoke on the driveshaft and watch the U-joint, if there is play in the joint that you can see and/or feel just buy doing this they need changed... .



do the same with the side that comes out of the T-case...



If neither of the U-joints show play I would pull the driveshaft off the truck and take it to a driveline shop and have them check the balancing of it... .



the picture below was a quick one, had to blow it up so it's not real clear, but a picture is still worth a thousand words... . :-laf



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