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Does my rear differential have a leak or bad seal?

4K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  dr.lee.baugh 
#1 ·
I just finished the oil change in my rear diff. I wanted to do it right by taking the back off and removing the RTV seal completely. Everything went great, I got all of the RTV sealant off and reapplied it the way shown on the forums here (I didnt smear it..just a nice 1/4 bead around the cover). Put everything back together with no problems. I have been checking everyday to make sure there is no leak from the seal....and it appears wet in certain areas. Take a look at the pics and tell me what you all think. I dont remember it looking this way the day I changed the oil. There is no oil dripping anywhere that I can see. I guess I will just have to keep checking oil levels. Thanks for any help.
 

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#2 ·
Hard to tell looking at those pictures...depends on how clean you were while doing the fluid change. It is certainly possible what you are seeing is oil from when you took the cover off and re-filled it.


I would clean all the residual oil off the diff, and then keep an eye on it. It may take quite a while before you notice a drop in the diff fluid level, even if it is leaking - a gear oil leak always looks WAY worse than it actually is!
 
#3 ·
This, ultimately that is a slow enough leak that I would not be worried about leakage in the short term damaging anything. Ultimately as stated it could be residual from the removal process, if you didnt completely clean the cover inside and out well the bottom is the most likely to get hit by stray gear lube as you pop the cover off.

again as stated, get some brake clean and spray it down and keep an eye on it.
 
#5 ·
Updated pics - I did what you guys said - degreased the rear diff. Let it sit for 15 min and then scrubbed with a brush. It looks like new and there is no sign of any leaks...what a relief. I didnt want to do that again for another 12k miles. I really appreciate it.




 
#6 ·
Glad you got it! At least it's easier than the trans pan drop :)
 
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