Axle seals AND pinion seal?

[pektel]

Sure enough, get the oil changed today, and the tech informed me that BOTH rear axle seals AND the pinion seal are leaking. I haven't been underneath to take a look yet, but I can't help but think that it's a bit unusual to have ALL of those seals failing at the same time...

Then I asked the dealer how much to fix... wait for it... $700 roughly for parts/labor.

Looks like the exhaust shop is going to get a little more business from me on Friday.

 

[joegr]

I'd make sure that it is leaking first, and check the fluid level. On most (if not all) of the cars that I have had, it is normal for some oil to seep out of these seals. It's enough to have a good greasy coating, but not enough to lower the fluid level or to drip onto the ground.
I can see all of them seeping a little, I can't see them all suddenly starting to leak at once.

 

[pektel]

I know it does not leak on the floor in my garage, but I did try to stick my head under there once I got back to work. The left side of the diff cover does look wet. Since teh car is lowered, I can't get under there far enough to inspect the seals. I'll just check everything at the exhaust shop on Friday. Thanks, Joe.

 

[M4rk]

That's how mine look.

 

[jmtiseo]

When I bought mine I thought seals were going. Ordered side that I thought was leaking. Crawled up under there, pulled the plug, stuck finger in. Plenty of fluid. It doesn't look like a fun job to do anything back there. It looked like the subframe/sub-assy needed to be dropped to access the diff. Mine doesn't look like Mark's but it looks moist.

 

[pektel]

I've removed the rear diff before. It wasnt too tough, but I know nothing about setting preload after replacing the pinion seal. At least, not enough to confidently do the work on such an important part of the vehicle's safety. I've heard of marking the nut and counting number of rotations, but that seems rather unreliable at best.

It was raining on the way home, so probably won't check anything until morning. Or just wait until its on the lift on Friday.