passenger side rear axle seal

whatpavment?

Active Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Location
whitsett
I just replaced this about 2 months ago. Now it's started leaking again. The mech's at goodyear said for them to do it would be $400 plus. Now that's f'ing rediculous. Is it true that the seal is supposed to be pressed to to the axle shaft? Not put into the end of the axle housing? Has anyone ever done this fix that could lend me some insight or even a hand? TIA:confused:
 
Sorry about the lack of info. I wrote this write after I got the bad news. I needed to vent. I have an 01 TJ sport with a super 35 with about 25,000 miles on the kit.
 
you could've boogered teh seal (or whoever put it in). or you could have a bent housing.

the seal replacement as I recall is on the shaft, behind the bearing. that means:

1. drain diff
2. remove cross pin and C-clip
3. pull shaft out
4. remove seal and replace with new one
5. put it all back together with new bearing
6. add whatever steps I over looked in that squence

I can't see that being $400 then again, the super 35 maybe a little differnent than a regular 35 for this.
 
Just put some rtv in there to seal it up. :beer:
 
I actually just read about putting silicone around the seal to stop the leak. It was in the new JP article about road testing their red TJ. Is that a safe thing to do or am I risking other factors? And if I do decide to go this route do I need to pull the shaft again to do so? Is it possible to reuse my gear oil again if I do have to drain the diff? Sorry for so many ?'s but with it being christmas time i'm really trying to be conservative about this. TIA.
 
silicone around the OUTER edge would be ok. I know people that put a thin coating on there. but it really should seal on it's own. but not the inner edge that teh shaft rides on.

as for Gear oil, you can reuse, but my opinion is that it's about $10 for fresh gear oil, replace it.
 
So should I be replacing the bearing also? Could there be a more serious problem that could cause this to happen in less than 2 months of replacing it? When I pulled the shaft last time there was a small pile of fine metal shavings. Is this normal? I also just replaced the rear brakes. Is there anyway to clean them and be able to reuse them or are they contaminated? Thanks for all the help guys!!
 
ah and yet more info is disclosed...

metal filings? where?

replace the bearings only if the bearing is shot, or for ease of mind if you doubt the bearing. not sure on Super 35, but the OE 35 has teh bearing in the tube. no need to remove bearing so no need to replace it in order to replace the seal.

could there be a more serious problem? sure, bent tube, screwed bearing....
 
The metal shavings were in the end of the tube, and also in the differential but I think that is supposed to be common in the differential.
 
Yo,
Perhaps the axle vent is blocked with mud? If so, when oil gets hot, pressure builds and can force earl out the seal.

:beer:
 
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This is what I think was causing all my problems. The bearings were chewed up. This is where the mystery shavings were coming from. I have no clue what caused this. But i'm hoping that replacing the bearings has put a stop to the seal leak. Thanks to everyone who replied tho this post and a big thanks to SHARKSANDDANGER for the over the phone assistance.:beer:
 
whatpavment? said:
The shavings I found were very fine like glitter.
Click to expand...
This is what I think was causing all my problems. The bearings were chewed up. This is where the mystery shavings were coming from. I have no clue what caused this. But i'm hoping that replacing the bearings has put a stop to the seal leak. Thanks to everyone who replied tho this post and a big thanks to SHARKSANDDANGER for the over the phone assistance.:beer:
Click to expand...

the Glitter shavings told me bearings, then your next post confirmed. Check the shaft where the bearings ride too. make sure it's not damaged
 
Honestly now that i've fixed the problem i'm more than ready to start looking for an upgrade. Just gotta get christmas out of the way first.
Check the shaft where the bearings ride too. make sure it's not damaged
Click to expand...
I looked the shaft over and it did have a tiny and I mean tiny little nick in it where it runs on the bearings. So without seeing it do you think it's gonna cause it to happen again?
 
If this nick contacts the bearing rollers, yeah it will. You could try to GENTLY file it down and see what happens. Do the best you can to file enough off, but not cause a depression in the shaft. Use a needle file. Because it is unlikely you will get it perfectly round you can't gurantee it won't wear those bearings out quick too, but it's worth a shot IMO.

Good Luck
 
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