Rear End Whine / Pinion Leak

[XCAMP]

I had some noise in the rear lately and noticed my rear pinion leaking. With differential fluid added, it went away. Is replacing the pinion seal a really hard task? Looks complicated in the shop manual.

 

[JoshC]

Replacing the seal is a decent job. You'll have to be able to get the pinion gear out of the pumpkin and that require you taking the ring gear and carrier out. If you don't have much experience in that it may be worth your time to get it fixed. Or if it isn't leaking that bad, just keep an eye on it.

 

[XCAMP]

Thank you for the info.

I sort of figured it might be out of my league and requires some experience and tools I don't have.

The strange thing is that it was leaking for sure right where the drive shaft meets the case, and I was getting rear end humming which I assumed was low oil. So I took it back to the place I bought a month ago and they said there was no leak and no noise (basically said I was crazy).

I got it back and it was gone. I would put money on them having filled the fluid up to get rid of the noise, but I can't figure out what they could have done to stop the leak.

They maintain they didn't do anything, so I can't get an honest answer and now wonder what the deal is.

Stupid situation really. I would have been happy to pay for it to be fixed properly. I guess the upside is since the noise is gone, it means the bearings are good and it's probably just a bad seal.

Any more insight would be much appreciated!

 

[JoshC]

I really don't have an answer for that one! You would probably be able to spot is some had the rear diff apart just by look on the bolt heads, probably dirty with some grease on them. If they look clean then someone was in there. On the opposite side of the diff-if they cleaned it off then they would have had to used parts cleaner spray and you'd be able to see where it was recently cleaned.

 

[XCAMP]

Thanks man. I need to crawl under it when it dries up around here. I was wondering if they just put some sealant on it for a temp fix but I can't imagine that would hold for long if they did.

 

[c_norris45]

Rear end whining

Have a 2003 Explorer that started whining approximately 2 weeks ago. Came and went and then went for a week (and trip to Atlanta). Daughter on way back from ATL and has started again. Stopped at repair shop and they are saying rear differential going out. She is approximately 200+ miles from home. Can she limp it in? What will happen if it completely goes out?
Thanks in advance for ANY words of wisdom.

 

[XCAMP]

The first thing she should do is check/get checked the rear differential fluid immediately. If you can get it replaced somewhere real quick, that would be good and make sure they put in the correct weight fluid. If it's low, that will cause the whine and if you run it low, you will mess things up. When you look under the vehicle, from the back, there's two bolts on the case, one towards the bottom and one towards the top. The top is the fill plug. Just remove it and stick your finger in, the level should be just below the hole. Don't do this while it's hot.

Secondly, there's a TSB about this if you search. There's a kit made to fix the issue without replacing the whole differential. From what I have read, you are looking at about $1100 to get it and have it installed.

To follow up on my situation, whatever the dealer did has stopped my leak and noise, yet they say they didn't do anything. I can't see any sign of work done, other than they removed the fill plug to check the level. Oh well, I will wait and see what happens.

Good luck with yours.