Well I am about to leave for home in two days from a short term job in Mass. My home is in Athens, Alabama which is about 1000 miles away. I walked out of my apartment to go to church this morning and I noticed a leak. I dropped under the truck and noticed that diff oil had dripped down from the front seal (???). Its looks like no more than 3 oz or so but it has me worried. I have some of my tools but not enough to even try to tackle this. How much work is involved replacing the seal? I hate the idea of going to a dealer but I dont think I have much of a choice. Any idea how much this is gonna cost?
Thanks

2005 F250 4x4 super crew.

 

3 oz is allot of oil, especially out of your pumpkin. If it's leaking that bad, your front seal is seriously trashed...how did you manage that would be my first concern. I'd pull the fill plug on the cover and see if there is oil there. If not, add oil until it's slightly oozing out. I've never had to replace one, but I believe you have to remove the pinion to replace the seal.

 

Oil on the ground can be very deceiving to look at
your 3 oz may not be 3 oz. Check in the fill hole
of the diff and see how low it really is and top it off.
Keep track of how much you put in. That way you
know how much is leaking out.

Changing that seal could be a bit of work. I have not done one
before. You have to remove the pinion nut and hardware then the seal
re-assemble Then the torque that can be quite a bit.
Sean

 

Here is a nice parts listing and the prices from the People over at tousleyfordparts.com
2006 FORD F-350 SUPER DUTY Parts - Tousley Ford Parts Depot

You will have to change the year and stuff to get the parts you will need

Sean

 

Thanks for all the replies. I didnt hit anything that I am aware of. The roads are worse than gravel roads up here and there is no way to avoid the moon craters in what was once considered a road up here. I dont know if that is what happened or something else.

 

easy to change man i just did mine not too long ago. Remove the pinion out of the rear end and get a seal puller or something to remove the seal and put new one in. remember the big washer lol i forgot mine and had to take it all apart and do it again. But yeah it is easy man time consuming but easy. also i had to use an impact to get the torque bolts off pinion. good luck
Use a rubber mallet to hammer the new one in and board to protect the surface when hitting it.

 

Drive Pinion Flange and Drive Pinion Seal

Special Tool(s) 2-Jaw Puller
205-D026 (D80L-1002-L) or equivalent
Installer, Drive Pinion Flange
205-233 (T85T-4851-AH)
Holding Fixture, Drive Pinion Flange
205-012 (T57T-4851-B)
Installer, Drive Pinion Oil Seal
205-208 (T83T-4676-A)

Removal

NOTE: The rear wheels and brake calipers must be removed to prevent brake drag during drive pinion bearing preload adjustment.

Remove the rear brake calipers. For additional information, refer to Section 206-04 .
Remove the driveshaft. For additional information, refer to Section 205-01 .
Install a Nm (inch-pound) torque wrench on the pinion nut, and record the rotational torque required to maintain rotation of the pinion through several revolutions.

CAUTION: After removal of the pinion nut, discard it. A new nut must be used for installation.

Use the Flange Holder to hold the pinion flange while removing the pinion nut.

Mark the pinion flange in relation to the drive pinion stem to ensure proper alignment during installation.

Use the 2-Jaw Puller to remove the pinion flange.

Force up on the metal flange of the rear axle drive pinion seal. Install gripping pliers to the seal flange and strike with a hammer until the rear axle drive pinion seal is removed.

Installation

Lubricate the new pinion seal.
Use Premium Long-Life Grease XG-1-C or equivalent meeting Ford specification ESA-M1C75-B.
CAUTION: If the rear axle drive pinion seal becomes misaligned during installation, remove the rear axle drive pinion seal and replace it with a new seal.

Use the Pinion Seal Replacer to install the rear axle drive pinion seal.

Lubricate the pinion flange splines.
Use SAE 75W-140 Synthetic Rear Axle Lubricant F1TZ-19580-B or equivalent meeting Ford specification WSL-M2C192-A.
NOTE: Disregard the scribe marks if a new pinion flange is being installed.

Align the pinion flange with the drive pinion shaft.

With the pinion flange in place in the rear axle housing, install the pinion flange using the Companion Flange Replacer.

Position the new pinion nut.

CAUTION: Under no circumstances is the pinion nut to be backed off to reduce preload. If reduced preload is required, a new collapsible spacer and pinion nut must be installed.

Use the Flange Holder to hold the pinion flange while tightening the pinion nut.
Tighten the pinion nut, rotating the pinion occasionally to make sure the cone and roller bearings are seating properly. Take frequent cone and roller bearing torque preload readings until the original recorded preload reading is obtained by rotating the pinion with a Nm (inch-pound) torque wrench.
If the original recorded preload is lower than specifications, tighten to the appropriate specification for used bearings. If the preload is higher than specification, tighten the nut to the original reading as recorded. Refer to Torque Specifications in this section.


Install the driveshaft. For additional information, refer to Section 205-01 .
Install the brake calipers. For additional information, refer to Section 206-04 .

 

Thanks for the very detailed post. Danny

 

Take the driveline out, take the flange off, might take some pursuading like mine did, take a screwdriver and get it behind the seal flange, give it a tap with a hammer, pop the seal out, put new one in,Put the flange back on, dont forget the washer as mentioned before. Once the nut contacts the washer give it about an eighth turn more to get a little crush on it. put the driveline back on, enjoy your trip. Mine was leaking like yours 4 years ago. I changed it as i stated and had no problem what so ever with it. The whole job will take about an hour.

 

The dealer did mine before I took delivery. It took around an hour to do. I watched the whole thing....no wheels came off, brakes, etc. They dropped the driveshaft, opened the back of the pumpkin, cleaned it all out and did the front seal.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up taking it to a dealer and found out it was the rear seal not the front. It was around $180 and took about an hour and half.

 

Rear seal??? Never heard of it on a rear differential. Sure looks like the pinion seal leaking to me.

 

Real seal...as in the cover seal?

 

Except that's not the rear cover leaking... it's the pinion seal.

 

I agree. Did they do both seals?