Here we go again - Leaking seal, Part III

[John Berger]

Pinion seal, that is. Driving along fine, get to my destination on Saturday afternoon. I check underneath the truck. Dry as a bone. Left my friends house who lives on a dirt road in Middleburg, Florida. It has been dry so the stuff on the side of the road is thick and sandy. I got some severe hop trying to get traction. When I got home, I checked the seal and it's leaking pretty good. The truck goes into the shop on Wednesday. I thought the way the tires were trying to get traction may have led to this latest leak, but the service manager at the dealer doing the repair doesn't think that should have caused the leak. He believes I may have a more serious problem. I hope that whatever is causing me to go through seals this way is solved soon. The truck rides fine, shifts fine and I can't detect anything out of the ordinary in the driveline in the way of vibration or noise. No flakes on the dipstick or leaking around the cover. This is completely &$%^#*@ annoying. No more mods #ad
until I can get this thing solved. I feel comfortable with this dealer. Had I have gone to them in the first place I probably wouldn't have had the warranty issue that I did with my local dealer. Other than writing letters, that has been resolved. Chrysler Service Contracts tells me that I can't get reimbursed because I used an aftermarket seal. He seemed helpful and agreed with me that the dealer should not have denied warranty service based upon a cover. Now where have I heard that before?
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1999 Dodge Ram 3500 Quad Cab 2wd; 5 spd; 4:10 LSD rear; Mag-Hytec differential cover; US Gear EGT and Boost gauges. Stewart Warner Fuel Pressure Gauge with dual senders, Westach Oil Temp Gauge for differential. Rancho 9000 shocks, PowerEdge EZ Box, Amsoil foam air filter and synthetics in the motor and differential. Cummins Power, don't leave home without it

[This message has been edited by John Berger (edited 05-29-2001). ]

 

[Alan Reagan]

Sounds like they need to consider changing the rear axle. Must be a defect in there either causing play on the shaft or the seal is not going in correctly.

 

[Sled Puller]

I'd push for a whole new axle. Just going to be trouble later.
Gene

 

[MaxTorque]

John, I took mine in today to have the pinion seal replaced. It started leaking while on a recent trip and I did not want to take the time to find a garage so just added oil as required. At the time it only had about 12,000 miles. Believe it or not, this dealer nor any other dealer in the greater Seattle area did not have a pinion seal to do the job. Parenthetically, I had made the app't two weeks ago. In previous Dodges I have owned, that had the long driveshaft,one of the causes was bad drive shaft alignment. After alignment, the problem went away. I think I lost count of the no of pinion seals I have replaced in Dodges.

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2001. 5 ETH 3500 6spd. 4x4 quad cab,3. 54LSD,all avail. opts. incl. leather,s. s. fender trim,s. s. bug guard,Stull running boards and custom flaps,line x bed liner, BD injectors plus ISSPRO EGT and Boost, pillar mt. ,Eze Edge,Jardine 4" ex. ,Reese class 5 hitch,Custom overload springs

 

[MidwestMotorman]

Has anyone with repeat seal problems checked to see that their breather is working properly? Maybe it is something that simple?

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99 2500 QC longbox, SLT, 4x4, 24V Cummins, 5 spd, 3. 55 LSD

 

[John Berger]

By breather I assume you mean the vent tube off of the axle housing. How would that cause a seal leak?

 

[Dieselnerd]

John, if the breather is clogged, heat generated while you drive would build pressure that cannot escape through the breather vent. It's possible that pressure could escape through the weakest seal. It may not be the problem but it is worth looking at. It only takes a minute.

 

[Dieselnerd]

The cap should be on but it's supposed to wobble and let air in or out depending on whether the air is heating or cooling. If you were to submerge a hot axle by driving through water the vent would draw in air to equalize the pressure and not let water suck into your seals. It works both ways and it's on a hose to keep it elevated above any shallow water you might drive through. Same on the front of a 4x4.

 

[Ram4Sam]

John, I had a problem like this a few years ago in a old Ford. The problem was two fold.
Make sure the vent hose is not blocked. Remove the vent hose from the rear housing and stick a pick or probe in the fitting to make sure it's not plugged with rust and crap. Then run a wire through the hose, or use an air hose to make sure the hose isn't blocked. If you aren't four wheeling, remove the white plastic fitting for now.
The vent on this old truck was completely plugged with crud and the vent wasn't working.

Next, check the yoke with a magnifying glass for any nicks in the seal surface area that could be eating up the new seals. On my old Ford, there was a slight nick that was barely visible. I took some real fine sand paper and repolished the seal surface area and polished out the nick. No more leaks!

Good luck, Sam

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01. 5 QC 2500 HO 3. 54 LB 2wd white/agate,Isspro,DDTTM,K&N,no muff,smoothie,RBW hitch,chrome tip

Sam Hill-BPOE #583
Fordaholic-clean and Mopar'd since 10/05/00

 

[John Berger]

I checked the hose from the axle housing. It runs up to the top of the frame by the tires. The hose is attached to a white stem/valve. On that valve was a cap. Should the cap be there? I took it off, but it's not a hard thing to do. You don't even have to crawl under the truck to do it.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

Some people who 4 wheel put a fuel filter in the place of the plastic vent to filter out any debris they may suck in. Usually it is easier to remove the hose and blow air though it to see if it is open, or hook it to the garden hose and flush it out.

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99 2500 QC longbox, SLT, 4x4, 24V Cummins, 5 spd, 3. 55 LSD