my girl soiled her self

[t4r4life]

when to my shop to take a look at the runner yesterday, lifted it up and saw that the runner had p&ssed herself, when to check the service manual and confirmed that it is the rear axle seal, what a great way to start the weekend.:banana: so i just came back from autozone with the seal gear oil and brake fluid and some PB blaster. now i just need to find someone to help me, i think its a 2 beer job.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

If I were you I'd stick with OEM seals and not aftermarket since I've seen two personally fail (one was on mine) and my mechanic has seen more than a few and really stressed to stick with OEM. The aftermarket ones on mine failed after 11k miles and with my OEM ones I now have over 50k on 'em.

 

[t4r4life]

i guess i was wrong, 1 beer later im stuck, the diff refill bolt wont budge, even with almost half can of hot sauce, i guess i have to take it to the shop and do it there, or should i just refill it through the diff breather?

 

[kball]

For whatever reason, diff plugs like to be hammered loose, not pulled smoothly. Try hitting your wrench with a hammer or if you have an impact gun... it took mine off like it wasn't tight at all.

 

[t4r4life]

For whatever reason, diff plugs like to be hammered loose, not pulled smoothly. Try hitting your wrench with a hammer or if you have an impact gun... it took mine off like it wasn't tight at all.

lol i used a cheap rachet and that darn thing broke in piece, so should i hit the bolt with a hammer then try to unscrew it ?

 

[kball]

well, I meant to hit the end of the wrench in the direction to unscrew it.

 

[BTO]

This is why rule #1 is you ALWAYS TAKE THE FILL PLUG OUT FIRST. Now you are stuck. You can't drive it with no oil in the diff.

You need a 1/2 breaker bar or a heavy impact air wrench.

The seals may be OK. It could simply be the dif breather is clogged. That's the way ours was. I replace the brake shoes which were oiled on one side. Cleaned out the dif breather and it's been fine ever since.

 

[rusm]

i guess i was wrong, 1 beer later im stuck, the diff refill bolt wont budge, even with almost half can of hot sauce, i guess i have to take it to the shop and do it there, or should i just refill it through the diff breather?

Mix up some acetone and ATF 50/50 and use that as your bolt loosener, supposed to work way better than any of the commercially available penetrating oils.

 

[t4r4life]

This is why rule #1 is you ALWAYS TAKE THE FILL PLUG OUT FIRST. Now you are stuck. You can't drive it with no oil in the diff.

You need a 1/2 breaker bar or a heavy impact air wrench.

The seals may be OK. It could simply be the dif breather is clogged. That's the way ours was. I replace the brake shoes which were oiled on one side. Cleaned out the dif breather and it's been fine ever since.

i didnt take out the drain bolt yet i was just trying to see if the refill bolt would come off first, but yea its stuck pretty good on there and i dont want to strip it so friday imma try to torch it see how it goes

 

[Nelsonmd]

This is why rule #1 is you ALWAYS TAKE THE FILL PLUG OUT FIRST. Now you are stuck. You can't drive it with no oil in the diff.

You need a 1/2 breaker bar or a heavy impact air wrench.

The seals may be OK. It could simply be the dif breather is clogged. That's the way ours was. I replace the brake shoes which were oiled on one side. Cleaned out the dif breather and it's been fine ever since.

x2 on the breaker bar. I was struggling with mine, ended up just putting the breaker bar on and it came off rather easily.

I also have good luck with hitting the wrench with a hammer. It's the poor man's impact wrench.

 

[t4r4life]

well got the refill bolt and the draining bolt loose, torque it back up and going to the shop friday, but when i took out the refill bolt there is some presure, does that mean my breather is plugged, maybe the preesure inside is what cause the seal to break.

 

[ksroqclimber]

I swapped mine out at the beginning of August. I look back and it is leaking again. All OEM parts. I think i may have not gotten the seal seated just perfectly. Man that thing is a ***** to get in and out with out the proper tools.

I will likely bite the bullett and take it in to have another set put on with the appropriate tools to the dealership.

if you change the seal you will likely need to change the bearing pack and then the brakes. I held off on the brakes until i knew the seal sealed. Good thing as now i would be out a new set of brakes too.

I had the same prob with the plugs luckily a shop is just around the corner from my house so was able to wheel it over there and have them loosen the plugs.

Would suggest doing the breather mod if you are working on the seal. Cost me maybe 8 bucks to do, but in the end can help rule out one more thing when figuring out why your seals are leaking.

Click the link in my sig. The breather mod is in the "Rearend" section of links

 

[t4r4life]

I swapped mine out at the beginning of August. I look back and it is leaking again. All OEM parts. I think i may have not gotten the seal seated just perfectly. Man that thing is a ***** to get in and out with out the proper tools.

I will likely bite the bullett and take it in to have another set put on with the appropriate tools to the dealership.

if you change the seal you will likely need to change the bearing pack and then the brakes. I held off on the brakes until i knew the seal sealed. Good thing as now i would be out a new set of brakes too.

I had the same prob with the plugs luckily a shop is just around the corner from my house so was able to wheel it over there and have them loosen the plugs.

Would suggest doing the breather mod if you are working on the seal. Cost me maybe 8 bucks to do, but in the end can help rule out one more thing when figuring out why your seals are leaking.

Click the link in my sig. The breather mod is in the "Rearend" section of links

yeah just bought everything to do the breather mod, and for some resason its not leaking that much anymore, and when i check the oil there is plenty in there so idk know should i do it or should i change the seal when its really bad.

 

[ksroqclimber]

Well if it has leaked at all.....the Dif oil has to flow through the bearings to get out. That means the lube that should be in the bearing pack has likely been replaced by diff fluid.

I don't know all the ends and outs, but over time you run the risk of messin up an axle itself. ANd if you got Diff fluid on your brakes, then that will cause an issue. could cause sticky brakes, and I think (not sure about this) it might put more strain (and more wear) on the brakes on the oposite side of the leak.

I am kind of in the same boat you are now. I dont really want to pay for all that again (as i dont really have the money handy) so I am drivin on a leaky seal. I guess ya just gotta weigh the pros and cons.

 

[Nelsonmd]

well got the refill bolt and the draining bolt loose, torque it back up and going to the shop friday, but when i took out the refill bolt there is some presure, does that mean my breather is plugged, maybe the preesure inside is what cause the seal to break.

Be sure to check the torque spec here, it requires really light torquing. I felt uncomfortable with how little torque it called for.

I had air escape when I took mine off too, it was likely air escaping, and yeah, it means your breather is clogged. Definitely do the extended breather mod

 

[t4r4life]

just did the breather mod now pretty easy but that seal is still leaking slowly but leaking i guess i just gotta change it, as for bearing i dont have money for that yet i guess i'll just have to take a risk there and just change the seal.