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Tips? -- Axle Seal Leak

T

TexasCJ8er

Scrambler Owner
City
Austin
State
TX
Just brought rig home from season at deer lease. Worked perfectly all fall but now is leaking gear oil from front right axle seal. Any tips/suggestions I need to know before I get into this project? Also, has anyone used the greasable aluminum seals? Will the bushings have to be replaced as well? This will be my first axle seal repair so any comments would be appreciated.

1982 CJ8 - stock Dana 30 front end.


:confused:
 
Help?

The best advice i can give you is get a good manual,chiltons will do,Then with the manual in hand,Read and Reread,before starting.Here is tip that will help you also,get a towell and lay it out where you are working and as you remove each part,lay them out in the order they come out,make sure and keep them in order and lay each part down,example if you pull it off what ever was facing you should go face down on the towell,this will help you keep everything in order and straight,this really isn't to tough of a job,just take your time! As far as the bearings you won't know wheter or not they need to be replaced untill you get them out,If there is "ANY" question about them "REPLACE THEM" This is easier to do when it's already torn down than after you have already put it back together and then decide it has to be done-JC:D
 
axle seal tips

Mule,
Thanks for the tips. I already have a couple of used and abused Chiltons and Haynes manuals. I've looked them over and it doesn't seem overly difficult (although it may take some time). One basic question however, is it possible to pull the front axles without taking the differential assembly out? Also, are any special tools (pullers?) needed to pull anything off or press the new bearings and/or seals back in?

Thanks again. This site is, with out a doubt, my best Jeep resource on the web.
 
pull the axles?

yep you can pull the axles out without pulling the gears,You don't even have to take the cover off the diffs,but it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and pull it(the diff cover) and check everything and put in fresh gear oil,since you are going to pull everything apart,it might be smart money spent to go ahead and replace the u joints in the axles if your going to pull them anyway.As far as any special tools you may need a large socket to pull the nut off,you can usally get these at any Wally World or parts house,I can't remember the size(anyone)?If you don't have C-clamps and a vise to do the u-joints then you might want to just pull everything and have them pressed in at your local shop- all this can be done with hand tools,it's just slower-Good luck and let us know how it came "out"-JC:D
 
I'm planning to do this too. I have a FSM and it says the carrier needs to be removed to gain access to the inner seals (these are the ones that seal in diff fluid).... guess what it says you will need a "carrier spreader" too!

Naturally the FSM lists a slew of specialized tools and references them using AMC part #s (not much help for a novice 20 years later).

To reiterate TexasCJ8er's question, Does anyone know the list of tools needed that can be purchased locally (e.g., Autozone, Harbor Freight.com etc.)?

Thanks,
Jim
 
Seals

Guys are we talking inner seal here? Mine had the outer seals in the axle,the inners are another story,but once the axles are pulled if you use a axle bearing/seal tool they can be replaced with out pulling the gears,but with out this tool you'd be better off to have it done unless you can rent or borrow one,most places around here don't have it or even know what your talking about,I'm lucky i have a buddy that has a tool to replace the inner seals and bearings,If i've confused anyone then i'm sorry i thought we were talking outer seals which are at the end of the axle tubes-JC:confused:
 
From what I understand..
- the outer seals keep the axle grease contained.
- The inner seals keep the differential (carrier) fluid contained.
- The outer seal is not designed to contain thinner fluids, just grease.

I need to do my inners because it's differential fluid (and not grease) that is leaking out the end of the axle where the U-Joint is.

Hope this helps,
Jim
 
Inner seals

Mule, this is from memory (usually bad). To do the inner seals, I'm pretty sure that you will need to pull the axle shafts from each side. I believe these are the steps. Maybe we can thresh it out here so Texascj8er can give it a try. Pull the differential cover, don't forget to catch the oil. Pull the bearing caps and remove the carrier. Make sure there are no shim packs behind the bearings. The seals can be pulled from the axle tubes, and new ones installed. Examine the ring and pinion gears very carefully. Usually, if oil leaks out, sand and water leak back in. Make sure all of the gear faces are smooth. Re-assemble and use a marking compound to check gear mesh. If it doesn't mark properly, you're going to have to adjust it. In which case, you probably want a professional involved. If it marks properly (WOO-HOO) Carefully re-install the axles, bolt on the cover and fill it with oil. When I did mine, I had a real front end man helping/teaching. The next one, I'll try first by myself. O.K. Guys, shoot it full of holes. Hope this helps - Dwain
 
is it leaking a lot, or just a little?

if it is just a little, then you may be able to do this: drain the gear lube and clean out the differential housing. fill housing with about 3/4 of a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and top off with your favorite gear lube. this has stopped leaking seals numerous time in my different gear boxes and axles. i can't think of a time it didn't work.

it is possible that the housing is bent. i know that both of the bent front TJ D30's i have replaced leaked gear lube thru the seals. you may want to check that out first.

matt
 
scenario: gear oil leaked out while parked - what should I do?

First thanks for all the input.

Here's my scenario. Jeep has been running great. Parked my rig in driveway which slopes fairly steeply to the right. Over the course of a week (in which the jeep didn't move) a large amount of gear oil has run out of the rt. front Dana 30 axle tube where it exits the tube (before the u-joints).

It may have been slowly leaking but this is the first time parked at this angle (and on concrete) for any period of time. I assume that since so much has run out the seal (seals?) must have completely failed.

From what I've gathered above, I feel fairly confident about my ability to tackle the outer seal. However, the inner is another matter. I'm concerned about pulling the differential with my limited experience. I know just enough to be concerned about pre-loaded bearings, re-aligning the carrier, etc. Althought it may be worth a try anyway due to cost, is getting the differential back in correctly once it's been pulled possible for someone who's never done more to a front or rear end than change the gear oil and differential cover gasket?

Thanks again for the tips above and anymore you may offer. I'll keep everyone in the loop on my progress.

:confused:
 
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