Leaking axle seal?

[motley1987]

I had a small leak on the front driver's side axle that you can kind of see in the picture. It's right above the two bolts in the center of the picture. At first the leak wasn't bad but I looked at it over the weekend and it's leaking more and looks like it's spraying grease around some of the parts around it that you can kind of see. Is this the axle seal? If so, what should I replace to make sure that the leak doesn't happen again or what else should I look for once I get it apart? If it's not the axle seal, what could it be? Any help or tips would be great. Thanks!

Ben

 

[motley1987]

Here's the pic

 

[motley1987]

Here's one I took a week or so ago.

 

[digglesworth]

Looks like the axle seal. Pull the cv and pry out the old seal. Pop in a new one. Be careful sliding the cv back in so the splines don't damage the new seal. Inspect the cv where the seal sits on the shaft. It can wear a groove in the shaft making the diameter of the shaft a little smaller in that spot. The seal won't seal as tight there. There's a nifty little tool that will help with installation. Let me see if I can dig up the name/part #...

 

[Bigunit]

Kent Moore tools H3 axle seal protector.

Motley, if you are planning to do the work yourself to remove and replace the axle seal, pm me your address and I will mail out a couple of the plastic axle seal protectors to you for no charge

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

and whatever you do, don't let the fluid get low

 

[Peep]

Doh!

just crawled under and mine is leaking too

 

[DJinCO]

Yep, that's the axle seal. I believe that it is considered a maintenance item - meaning every 50k miles you can expect to replace.

 

[motley1987]

Thanks Bigunit, I sent you a pm.

I checked the diff fluid tonight and it's full so I guess the leak isn't that bad. Now I just have to order the deal and make sure I have the big sockets to get everything apart. Thanks for the info everyone.

Ben

 

[motley1987]

I guess one last question, is there anything else I need other than the seal itself? I'm not sure if some things need to be cut off or get destroyed in the removal process, or if I need grease or anything else. Thanks again!

 

[Bigunit]

Do you have the part # for the axle seal? Your axle seal protectors are going out tomorrow via USPS priority shipping.

 

[Bigunit]

The axle seal GM part # is 15286593

 

[motley1987]

I found the Napa part # 15691. Should I go to the dealer instead? Thanks again for the protectors.

Ben

 

[motley1987]

The axle seal GM part # is 15286593

Cool, my local parts place didn't have it, so I'll give the dealer a call tomorrow. You're the man!

 

[digglesworth]

Not sure the markup at a dealer but it can't be too outrageous.... A seal puller isn't bad but you can probably make do with a flathead screwdriver. You can use a little grease on the outside of the seal to help pop it in. It will take a few taps to seat it. Try not to deform it. You can top off the diff but chances are you hardly lost any fluid. It's not too hard of a job and pulling the cv will refresh the memory for trail repairs.

 

[motley1987]

Do I need to put more grease behind the seal to make up for what leaked out? If so, what kind? All the pointers should definitely make this much easier.

 

[digglesworth]

Well yes and no. The grease will help the new seal seat in place. You'll see once you have the seal. It's a metal ring with rubber on the inside diameter. Use a rag to clean out the hole the old seal came out of and get it cleaned up for the new seal to pop in. You would fill the diff for any lost fluid through the fill hole in the cover. I would dare to say that idbe sursurprised if you had to add more than an ounce or two worth of fluid to top it back off. It may seem like you lost a lot of fluid but you really didn't. Just a light layer of grease applied with your finger on the metal ring of the seal should do the trick.

 

[motley1987]

Cool, I wasn't sure if I needed to grease a bearing or anything behind it.