Diff. output shaft seal
Thread Starter
5th Gear
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Kirkland Washington
Diff. output shaft seal
My 98 is seeping at the output shaft seals. More so on the right side. After I drive it for a while and park in the garage for a few days there is a silver dollar size spot on the floor. Not like a puddle. More like a film. [The floor is epoxied] When I removed the plug to check the oil level there was pressure in the diff. Is this normal or is my vent not working?
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
Was that for just the shaft seal or both the shaft and cover? They're both known to weep. That's a fair price for both but way high for just the shaft seal.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,526
Likes: 20
From: Santa Fe TX
Mine is doing the same thing. How urgent is it to fix?
It is literally just a dime sized film on the epoxy floor. Not sure I would have even seen it on a regular concrete floor.
I've heard that this can happen after spirited driving from the vent. Will I see more if it becomes a problem? Or will I just end up with an empty (and therefore toasted) differential?
I would rather do clutch, output shaft, seals all at the same time but my clutch is holding for now.
It is literally just a dime sized film on the epoxy floor. Not sure I would have even seen it on a regular concrete floor.
I've heard that this can happen after spirited driving from the vent. Will I see more if it becomes a problem? Or will I just end up with an empty (and therefore toasted) differential?
I would rather do clutch, output shaft, seals all at the same time but my clutch is holding for now.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
Define "urgent"
It ain't gonna fix itself, but catastrophic seal failures are very rare. I knew mine was leaking when I bought my car, but I let it go for nearly a year. I did however periodically check the diff. fluid level. What did finally motivate me was the leak went from just being able to "moisten" the cover to actually leaving a tiny puddle on the floor like yours. Seeing that got me off my azz, and I ordered the parts. It took me about 4 hours, but a lot of that was headscratching as I tried to figure out how to jimmy out the cover without removing the halfshaft from the wheel hub.
There isn't much room, but I did finally get it though!
It ain't gonna fix itself, but catastrophic seal failures are very rare. I knew mine was leaking when I bought my car, but I let it go for nearly a year. I did however periodically check the diff. fluid level. What did finally motivate me was the leak went from just being able to "moisten" the cover to actually leaving a tiny puddle on the floor like yours. Seeing that got me off my azz, and I ordered the parts. It took me about 4 hours, but a lot of that was headscratching as I tried to figure out how to jimmy out the cover without removing the halfshaft from the wheel hub.
There isn't much room, but I did finally get it though!
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
