I am a complete n00b to anything beyond changing my oil and filters. I was getting recall work done on my truck and the dealership told me my rear pinion seal was leaking. I don't have the money to have them do it right now because I have to replace all my tires in a few weeks too. My friend has nearly every tool known to man and is quite handy at such things so skill isn't the worry here.

I have been reading the repair manuals. Are all pinion seals the same size? Where can i buy a pinion seal(would autozone have one or is it an internet purchase?) When I raise up my truck can I still use the axle for the jack points?

Thanks in advance.

 

Here is some info that may help you:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...seal-leak.html

 

I bought the pinion seal to fit my exp today. now all that is left is prayin that my friend has the tools.

 

Just take it slow and easy and you all should be fine. There are also a lot of bright folks on this site that know what they are doing, so just ask if you get stuck.

 

how much does it leak? a cup a month would be bad, and cover the alxe and gas tank with spray oil. a spoonfull a year would not be too bad, just let it go and forget it! take a look and see how much is on the bottom of the truck. did they add any oil?

 

I leaks enough that the entire bottom half of the exterior of the differential is covered in oil. They didn't add any oil. Where/how do you put more oil in? And What kind of oil is it?

 

So 3 days ago I found the differential gear oil needed and put some in my differential as a temporary fix. I looked under my car today to see if any of the new oil was leaking out and most of the areas that were wet with oil we now dry. I can not explain this. Apparently God is a vehicle mechanic. I have no explanation for the leak fixing itself.

 

Did you clean the area previously? Oil won't "dry" so if the area is now dry and you didn't clean it, it was something else that was collecting there.

-Rod

 

Well when I went to put oil in my differential it took in a full bottle before it was full. So it was definitely leaking. But I did nothing to clean it, and it is just drying up. The Ford dealership was who told me that it was leaking to begin with and I am not about to start questioning them. I don't know what to tell you. There is considerably less oil on the underside of my explorer now.

 

That sounds a bit suspicious to me. Not suspicious in a "60 Minutes Exposes" kind of way, but suspicious that the stain on the underside would dry up.

It's too much work to drain the differential (have to loosen the differential cover and pry the gasket loose - no drain plug) then spray some liquid on the bottom to make it appear to be leaking, so there probably is/was a leak which caused the diff to be low. However, I still would not expect any gear oil to evaporate. I guess if it was able to dry off the bottom of the differential, it could also evaporate through the differential vent. Oh, that would be another thing to check. Make sure the differential drain is not plugged. If it were plugged, it might be possible that after a long highway trip or getting stuck in snow/mud the differential got hot and since the went was plugged, it forced it's way through the seal. You might also check the axle seals to see if they are leaking oil into the rear brake drum area (either drum brakes or the parking brake drum if you have rear disc).