Leaking front diff

[reichhartkg]

There is fluid leaking out of the front diff. I took it in a few months ago b/c of excessive road noise and they said that the front diff fluid was low. He thought the main seal was bad so he filled it up and told me to come back when the noise returned. Well, the noise is back so I crawled under and the front of the diff is dry but the back, where the drive shaft exits, has a few drops of lube hanging there.

Is this cheaply repairable or should I start searching the junk yards for a new diff?

Or would this be a good time to start looking at doing an SAS?

 

[LowdPypes]

If you know someone, then it is a cheap fix, if you don't, then it could get pretty costly. You see, in order to service anything on the front diff, a bunch of parts have to be removed. In the service manual, I think they call for 4 or 5 hours which is how you will be billed (it will not necessarily take that long but that is usually how ford or shops bills people) I can almost assure you that the main seal is shot and even if it isn't, replace anything you can in the front end while it's all apart... Also, don't forget... Mobile One, Full Synthetics

 

[Robert]

If you didn't let your differential get so low on fluid that you ruined your internals, then it should be a cheap fix. Your pinion seal is probably leaking. It is very common. I had mine replaced for $105. Ford's book time was one hour of labor plus parts.

Now that several years have gone by, my front pinion seal is leaking again. I found the pinion seal locally at Napa for $11 but when i discovered that Ford tightened my pinion nut on so tight that I couldn't budge it, I chose not to replace it again. I just keep checking the level every few months. Mine leaks only bad enough to cause a mess from the lube getting spun all around.

 

[SWLathrop]

There's a TSB out there for the front diff cover blowing fluid out the blow hole making it look like the front axle seal is leaking. There is a revised cover. I had mine replaced under warranty. Problem cured...

 

[Hoppy]

Where do you find this TSB for the front seal leak?

 

[gijoecam]

Just had my front pinion seal replaced yesterday. As long as the level didn't frop too low (which mine didn't) they can suck the oil out through the fill hole, or install a drain plug (as they did to mine). Replacing the seal is a matter of disconnecting the driveshaft and removing the pinion. For the seal, the local trans shop wanted $75, and $50 for the fluid change. I just had them do both as I'm lazy and the weather never cooperates. The cost for the fluid change was a little high in my opinion, but it's done.

-Joe