I need your opinion (rear axle seal)

[Asaspades93]

I had a leaking axle seal back in September, I took it to a local shop to get fixed and then the other week it started leaking again. I have already extended the diff breather so i figured the seal may be faulty or something. Today I was replacing the seal with another member on here and this is what we found

This side hasnt had any other work done to it, but now the housing has some internal damage on the outer edge as well as where the seal sits, on top of that the axle has a decent size cut in it right at the seal. I am pretty sure I'll have to replace the axle as this one will never seal correctly.
What I am wondering is what sort of coverage if any am I entitled to for the damage caused by the shop replacing the seal the first time. I've had a good relation with the shop so I'm going to talk with the manager, but what would a typical response to that be?

 

[Asaspades93]

Anyone?

 

[AZTOY]

Most good shops guarantee their work for a year. They should fix the leak. If they damaged it they would be liable. But since you just took it apart they could blame you. Who knows. I would put it back together and take it to them to have them replace it under warranty of work and parts.

 

[weekendclimber]

Reminds me of this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYg6z5coNmk

IMO, when/if I need to have this done I will do it myself. Too many shady mechanics will just mess it up because it'll last a month or two and then they can claim that it's not their fault.

 

[nevada]

OP, go back and edit your post.

hit enter after each picture. its hard to tell what you have going on there with it scrolling sideways.

that said, the one pic I saw clearly, shows the cut, but that cut has nothing to do with the seal, or the sealing surface.

the seal rides on a retaining collar, not the axle itself.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Quite the hack job. The shop probably will not want to replace the axle housing as it is over $1200 just for the housing. They may say they can "fix" it but will probably try to fill the grooves with gasket maker. It could be spray welded and machined. Not sure how much that would cost. I would say they owe you an axle housing then I would take it somewhere else.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

OP, go back and edit your post.

hit enter after each picture. its hard to tell what you have going on there with it scrolling sideways.

that said, the one pic I saw clearly, shows the cut, but that cut has nothing to do with the seal, or the sealing surface.

the seal rides on a retaining collar, not the axle itself.

I thought the same thing but it looks like one of the pictures shows the seal removed and 2 nasty gashes grooved in the bore where the seal seats. Gear oil could easily sneak under the seal via those grooves same as if someone grooved the axle where the retainer rides.

 

[Asaspades93]

Edited the spacing, it came up fine on my phone. The 3rd pic is right where the seal sits. I'm going to talk to them tomorrow, best case they'll cover the cost of a housing, might be time to find an elocker

 

[bambi_runner6]

To remove the seal we used the bottom and left notches behind the seal, so we know that none of the damage is ours, but convincing the shop of that like [MENTION=54101]AZTOY[/MENTION] says will be another story unfortunately... I didn't notice until seeing the pictures but you can see where the oil was leaking through in the second picture, right where the big gash under the seal is

 

[Asaspades93]

Well I went to the shop today... Their response was that the gouges under the seal couldn't cause it to leak, and it was likely caused by the cut to the axle. I don't know why there would be a cut to the axle since I didn't have them replace the retainer.
So pretty much in the 75k miles that the car has been in my family I know that the driver side axle was never touched had started leaking back in september. In the 2500 miles since then, the seal started leaking again and they are telling me that it must have been caused by a previous repair. So now I know that they won't stand behind their work and I'm off to find a new axle and housing:redbrick:

 

[nevada]

while none of that looks great, I don't see anything that would warrant a replacement. you should be able to put it together, and not have a leak.

put a bit of silicone on the outer edge of the seal if it makes you feel better.
then make sure the retainer is in the correct position to be centered on the seal.

 

[AZTOY]

Well I went to the shop today... Their response was that the gouges under the seal couldn't cause it to leak, and it was likely caused by the cut to the axle. I don't know why there would be a cut to the axle since I didn't have them replace the retainer.
So pretty much in the 75k miles that the car has been in my family I know that the driver side axle was never touched had started leaking back in september. In the 2500 miles since then, the seal started leaking again and they are telling me that it must have been caused by a previous repair. So now I know that they won't stand behind their work and I'm off to find a new axle and housing:redbrick:

Check out "dr coffee" thread on this forum regarding axle seals. Great info.

 

[Ckooyers]

Really looks like that wheel bearing has been replaced before and all that damage is from a previous repair all I would replace is the seal with some extra goop on your axle housing, it's really hard to say if the shop even made the gouges

 

[Mynameistommy510]

I'm on day three of doing the whole press out bearings with the half welded up axle, lining up new retainers in new seals and it sure is a pain, but nowhere near the $900 I spent previously to have a shop do the same to me as they did to you.

 

[Asaspades93]

Really looks like that wheel bearing has been replaced before and all that damage is from a previous repair all I would replace is the seal with some extra goop on your axle housing, it's really hard to say if the shop even made the gouges

I've been thinking about that. While it is possible that the damage was done before the car was in my family, since 100k now 196k I know nothing has be done to the driver side. But why would it last 90k miles without a problem and then after getting it replaced in boulder leak after less than 4k miles?

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

I've been thinking about that. While it is possible that the damage was done before the car was in my family, since 100k now 196k I know nothing has be done to the driver side. But why would it last 90k miles without a problem and then after getting it replaced in boulder leak after less than 4k miles?

You're exactly right. 4k miles is 4k miles. If the repair were done correctly, it should not leak that quickly. It probably leaked right away, it's just that you don't see it right away usually and it takes a bit to sneak past the bearing. The mechanic is just not owning up to his mistake.
To fix it you could put a little gasket maker in the gouges to fill them in, replace the oil seals again with OEM seals, then use the grease test described in Dr Coffee's write up to check the position of the retainer. Need a better picture of the retainer to see if any gouging on the shaft will be an issue or not.
Good luck!

 

[Asaspades93]

Thank you. I did replace the seal with an oem last week, just so I wasn't leaking, at least for a little. I will pull it back apart on my next day off and see what I can do