Pinion Seal Leak?

[BigTxPowerWagon]

2018 Power Wagon. Wife was pulling truck out of driveway for me and I noticed discoloration on my rear diff. Can’t tell if this is a slow leak or sometype of coating from the factory. Only have about 7,700 miles on truck and she’s been babied.

 

[RodeoRam]

Looks like a leak to me. Does it smell like grease? Keep an eye on it and the grease level in the diff.

Have you ever had a pinion gear go out? My '01 rear pinion let go once. I must have been living right because I was less than a mile from the Aamco that rebuilt my 46RE. I had stopped at an intersection and noticed some blue smoke drift past me and I smelled the grease. By the time I got into the Aamco parking lot, grease was pouring out around the seal. From my experience, if you begin to hear a whine when you let off the accelerator to coast, it won't be long before it goes. Mine went within a week.

 

[olyelr]

Looks like a leak to me. Does it smell like grease? Keep an eye on it and the grease level in the diff.

Have you ever had a pinion gear go out? My '01 rear pinion let go once. I must have been living right because I was less than a mile from the Aamco that rebuilt my 46RE. I had stopped at an intersection and noticed some blue smoke drift past me and I smelled the grease. By the time I got into the Aamco parking lot, grease was pouring out around the seal. From my experience, if you begin to hear a whine when you let off the accelerator to coast, it won't be long before it goes. Mine went within a week.

Its oil, not grease.

And yes, looks like you have a leaky pinion seal bigtxpowerwagon. If you are trustworthy of your dealer, take it in.

 

[crazy jerry]

its a leak. if your mechanically inclined theyre pretty easy to change yourself but since your asking if its even a leak , youll need to go to a dealer. hopefully they do it right. otherwise you may be going back for a new gearset

 

[olyelr]

Yep, making sure there is proper preload back on the pinion nut is crucial.

 

[BigTxPowerWagon]

its a leak. if your mechanically inclined theyre pretty easy to change yourself but since your asking if its even a leak , youll need to go to a dealer. hopefully they do it right. otherwise you may be going back for a new gearset

I’m asking if it’s a leak because I’m in disbelief that my nearly brand new truck is already leaking at the pinion, but thanks for the insult.

 

[olyelr]

I’m asking if it’s a leak because I’m in disbelief that my nearly brand new truck is already leaking at the pinion, but thanks for the insult.

My upper balljoints had a slight wobbly at my first tire rotation (3000 miles), or maybe even sooner (that was the first time I jacked the tires off the ground), and the trans has had a damp spot since then as well. And the battery was completely shot with 500 miles on the truck. **** happens.

I dont think he was trying to be a **** or insulting you at all. Your the one who asked if it was a leak.

And you are not the first guy with a leaky pinion I have read about on their new power wagon. And make sure its fixed correctly, because I have read of failed diffs shortly after the repair as well.

 

[crazy jerry]

ive seen them leak with 200mi. **** happens. atleast you dont have a bad case of death wobble like alot of the new fords have

 

[olyelr]

ive seen them leak with 200mi. **** happens. atleast you dont have a bad case of death wobble like alot of the new fords have

Or doors that spontaneously open on there own.

 

[DodgeDude99]

its a leak. if your mechanically inclined theyre pretty easy to change yourself but since your asking if its even a leak , youll need to go to a dealer. hopefully they do it right. otherwise you may be going back for a new gearset

Mmm yeah a pinion seal isn’t a DIY type of job if you haven’t done gears before.

To do it correctly would require the disassembly of the differential to reset the preload in the pinion bearings.

 

[crazy jerry]

im not gonna argue with anyone but the gearset doesnt need to come apart for a pinion seal change. any mechanic worth a grain of salt knows that. marking the nut would put the preload exactly to what it was before but spend all day tearing the gears out if you want. and the seal is DIY job if your mechanically inclined, like i said previously.

 

[DodgeDude99]

Well as someone who has done a fair amount of regearing I’m telling you that you’re incorrect. I don’t give a damn if you’re a “mechanic”. I’ve seen “mechanics” do it that way and months down the line we’re having to go back in.
Preload needs to be measured with an inch pound torque wrench before disassembly and then reset to that number afterwards. You can only do that with ring & carrier out.



If you’re into half assing it, then yes your way will work.

 

[crazy jerry]

haha. tear the whole thing apart for all i care. LOL. by your method, why not just pull the shafts out of the carrier and measure TTY of the pinion and carrier. you would arrive at the same result as your method but it would be far less work. ive done a few of these as well and i can tell you that if the crush sleeve preload was correct from the factory, putting the nut back on in the same spot will change nothing regarding preload. why people cant comprehend this is beyond me. whats half ass about it ? its set right back where it was. from a business point of view it makes more sense to tear it all apart since you can charge the customer a days labor instead of 45min

 

[yoda]

For the rear the procedure is to pull axles and measure turning torque.
For the front 9 1/4 AAM axle, the procedure has changed, you must remove the carrier, remove the ring and pinion,replace the crush sleeve and bearings.

Can you get away with doing it like Crazy Jerry says? Usually probably yes.

Depends who's paying if it doesn't work out.

I had a 17 3500 a few months ago a front pinion seal was done at another dealer, 500 miles later it was on my rack, they must have over torqued the pinion. The front pinion race spun in the housing.
I had to replace the housing, ring, pinion, case and all the bearings. Over 7K in parts alone.

One thing for sure it's not about being able to soak it to the customer.
Do you think FCA is paying out the extra warranty time so they can screw themselves?

 

[crazy jerry]

as of the time the 2017 fsm was published, front and rear seal replacement used rotating torq method, maybe something has changed since then. but if you mark the pinion like i said, your marks line up once you put the rotating torq back to where it was. so youve pulled the axle shafts out for no reason

once the crush sleeve is set initially at the factory, i see no reason why marking the nut isnt the best method to use but hey thats just me. now if you disturb the preload by over or under tightening the nut, then youll have problems.

everyone can decide for themself how they want to change the seal. i just feel pulling shafts and removing carriers makes no sense but thats just me. do it how ever you want