Front Differential Oil Seal

[George T]

Long story short, I had to change my left cv axle. I noticed that the original oil seal (in the differential, where the cv axle goes into the differential) was leaking a little bit of oil since the old cv axle had some oil spots on it. So I decided to do it myself. I replaced, put it all together. Next day there was a big oil spot on the driveway. I took everything apart again, took the seal back to the store. Got another one. The guy that sold it to me said it sounded like I was installing it the right way. Replaced it, put everything back together. But it is still leaking a little bit.



Its about a quarter size drop every now and then. Which is weird because I could be driving the whole day. I will stop and check under the car, and nothing. But come home, park it and then in the morning there is a spot.



Any ideas what I did wrong or what is causing it? Could it be the cv axles fault somehow?

I called a couple shops around here, approximately 200 for them to do it. Worth taking to the shop?



Thanks for any help or advice I can get

George

2004 ST 4x4 Adrenalin 89,000

 

[scott degroot]

Did you try fitting the oil seal on the end of the axle to see how well it fit? More often than not we buy cheaper parts and when it comes to halfshafts the quality varies dramitically adn they don't have the same specs as the OE parts do so there is a chance that the diameter of the shaft where the seal rides is not up to par adn it ends up leaking.

 

[George T]

I got the only seal available at the store and it cost me 30 bucks for it.

I tried putting it on and it seemed to fit the same as the original one did.

As far as the actual halfshaft, this is the second time im replacing it(boot ripped on the first one). I got it from Advance Auto Parts, and they are one of the few stores that has. Autozone has refurbished ones. NAPA is special order and will take about a month.

The dealer said it will be almost 500 dollars for a new cv axle.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

I just replaced both axle shaft seals last spring and they only cost I think around $2-3 each from rockauto.com.



Last I checked a CV axle for a ST is only around $150 tops at the places I looked at. George, please check here before buying parts, we'll help you find parts cheaper.



nline::haveabeer:

 

[George T]

Jerry,



I just checked rockauto.com. Their cv axles are 65-315. Brands Cardone and EMPI being the cheapest. Would those be better quality then advance auto parts? I dont really know where else to look to find cheaper parts.



Thanksnline:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Google is your friend, I google part names and numbers to search the web and find every company out there that sells them. I also am on a couple different forums, this helps me find out how good the parts are from other people's experiences with different brands. There are company's and websites you would never know about if google wasn't available, it's saved me thousands over the years.

 

[Team Houlagans]

I would say do not get :fire: a Cardone axle shaft!! I have replaced the shafts in my Trac 6 times. And both axle seals leak a bit now even though I got Genuine Ford parts. I layed out the first axle beside my original Ford shaft which I replaced as a preventative measure. . . . the shaft was shorter when fully extended!! This is important if you do the Torsion Twist because you will need all the length to keep the shaft from pulling the inner joint apart.



Just my experience and my 2 Canadian Cents

 

[Chad Merry]

CV axles dont extend so not sure what TH means by his reply. I used NAPA CV axles, but they are all prolly made in China and just put into diffent boxes.



But you may have a small nick on the shaft that is cutting the new seals, i did that once and had to polish the shaft and the leaking stopped.