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D2 Front Axle Leak


R_Lefebvre

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I recently changed the right front hub on my D2, and I also changed the axle oil seal since Rave says you should. Original symptoms were slight wetness on the knuckle, as well as 3 Amigos and the computer reported a bad sensor on that corner. It was pretty obvious the bearing and sensor had actually failed. I had trouble pressing the oil seal into place, seemed like it didn't want to go in, but I made a tool and did my best, thought it worked.

I haven't got a lot of miles on it since, but I started noticing wetness on the front knuckle again. It actually looked to be coming from the CV as that was the only other thing I saw wet. Seemed to only be on the outer (larger) folds of the boot. I assumed I damaged the boot while doing the work. But I can't see any damage. And after a few more miles, everything is really wet with what clearly looks like diff oil.

So I'm assuming it's the oil seal. Either I didn't install it right. Or, it could also be, that I noticed a small wear ring on the axle shaft right where the seal lip rides. Is that normal?

I just went ahead and replaced the seal again. When I took it apart, it was obvious I didn't install it right the first time. I put the new one in, modified my tool to work better (I machined a ring to press in the seal and it's attached to a short pipe). That worked, and it went in pretty well. I was pretty confident it worked.

I drove the truck to work today, and it looks like it's still leaking!

I can't figure out the cause, other than the possibility it's the wear rings I saw on the axle shaft?

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Sounds like it could be the shaft then.

You can get things called "speedy sleeves" that fit over the shaft with some loctite to hold them in place, then the oil seal goes over that (might need a larger id in the seal, long time since I've used them). I don't think this will cause a problem with anything else (the larger shaft diameter) on the TD5 axle.

Hope that helps.

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Ok, silly question but... which side of this seal faces out?

I see an inner lip that seals on the shaft. And there's another lip on the opposite side that looks like it's supposed to ride on an OD. I put the ID lip on the inside, and the OD lip on the outside. I'm starting to wonder if that's backwards, and the outer lip is supposed to run on the pressed steel cup that is on the shaft?

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I did some looking last night, and it's hard to find good photos, but I'm thinking I put it in backwards. But I'm also pretty sure that's how it originally came. I'm wondering if the original one was in backwards too, and it maybe why it started leaking in the first place...

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