2002 explorer rear end wine, advice please

[mikelegrice]

I have recently purchased a used 2002 explorer for dirt cheap. There is a rear end wine that I cant seem to remedy. It appears to be comming from the diff. There appears to be a slight leak (not enough to create a puddle). I am going to change the pinion seal and re fill the diff oil. What weight of synthetic diff oil does it take? (sorry no manuel)

Is this a common problem? Can anyone shed some light on my issue?

 

[Dre]

Use 75W140 - if it's an LS diff then use oil with friction modifiers or add some with oil. Whine is an indication of a bad pinion bearing - changing just a seal will not fix the problem - eventually you are looking at a bigger job, changing the bearings. Lack of oil in the differential might of contributed to the bearing going bad.

good luck