Slow Diff Leak

[marshall9779]

I have a slow leak on one side of my diff where the CV boot attaches to the diff. Would that most likely be the boot that needs to be replaced, or is there a seal? How hard would this be to fix myself? I need to check and see if I can touch fluid through the top diff port and see how low the fluid is. I never see any fluid on the pavement, so I don't think it's leaking much, but I need to at least take a look.

[Hemi Mag]

I have a sweaty pumpkin as well, it is the axle seals, I had both of mine done last year under warranty, have to go back again.

AC

[Fargo59]

check to see if the fluid is not actually coming out of the vent at the top of the diff, and dripping down. after a season at the track, i found that during my burnout, the fluid would drip out of the vent. and only during my burnout. cleaning it down after track ended, no leaks for weeks. i may devise a longer vent tube for my situation. just an idea.

[ZMagnum]

Vent overflow or pinion leak.

[marshall9779]

It is not coming out of the top port. There is no fluid on the outside of the diff up top. It just just the bottom and is coming from where the axle goes in to the diff.

[torRed #1169]

I have the same.
You have to replace the seal.

Bummer.....

[marshall9779]

I figured. It held up at the track this past weekend. I need to at least check the level and top it off until I decide to get it fixed. It's probably just the hard romps that cause it to weep some, and then it stops.

[300cHeritageG]

I took mine in last week. Cause I too had the wet look on my pumpkin for quiet sometime. They replaced both axles and seals under warranty. When they lifted the car, one of the axles boot was torn and the slow leak were the seals. Also my diff was missing half its fluid.. They say it happens, like some of us here already know. Crazy.. But I still love my brick tough! HeHe

[marshall9779]

I still haven't done anything about this yet. I saw a thing on Power Block the other day about some seal conditioners that can be used to stop a slow rear main leak and was wondering if that or a similar conditioner could be used to stop a slow axle seal leak. Is there anything in these conditioners that could harm the diff. I may just browse around Autozone today and see if they have anything that says it's safe for differentials.

[Popeye's Hemi]

I still haven't done anything about this yet. I saw a thing on Power Block the other day about some seal conditioners that can be used to stop a slow rear main leak and was wondering if that or a similar conditioner could be used to stop a slow axle seal leak. Is there anything in these conditioners that could harm the diff. I may just browse around Autozone today and see if they have anything that says it's safe for differentials.

The stuff you are asking about only softens the seal material and causes it to swell a little.
You will need to replaced the seal eventually if you have a 3.06/215mm rear the p/n: 5127704AA and about $6.59 each. I'm not sure about the 2.82/210mm differential Once you get the axle out remove the old seal with a bent tip pry bar. Tap the new seal in flush and be careful that the axle splines do not touch the new seal.

Look around this forum for a thread that Eric (Hemi31) wrote about swapping 5.7/6.1 rears. It will have most of the steps and torque specs needed.

[marshall9779]

I picked up a bottle of White's Shepard Stop Leak. It's good for pretty much any fluid system except brakes. I was just going to add that, but not knowing how much fluid is in there and that I might have to add some anyway I think I'm just going replace the fluid along with adding the stop leak. I'm at 41k miles so I'm coming up on needing to do it anyway on the B maintenance schedule. I had a hard time finding a 14mm hex bit. No one sold them individually and I only found two places that sold them as part of a set. One was a 4-5 piece set from Harbor Freight for $15 and the one I got was a 3 piece set from Pep Boys. Pep Boys was also the only place that carries Royal Purple gear oil so I picked up 2 quarts of their 75-140 gear oil. I plan on doing this over the upcoming holiday weekend. I'll will wipe it down and give it a couple days of driving and see how it does. If I do notice a little leaking after the first couple days, I'll wipe down again after the seal conditioner has worked some and then check again. I figure the $50 I spent would be worth a shot first rather than paying the dealership to do the seals. I will post results next week.

[QuickRT2SRT]

I had this same problem after I swapped diffs for the SRT8 version. On a whim I took it in to the dealer to see if they would fix them under warranty since I was just under 36k miles at the time... Long story short - and I am still amazed at the fact, but they didn't say a word about it having a different rear end and went ahead and replaced both seals under my factory warranty. Hasn't dripped a drop since.

[marshall9779]

Unfortunately I'm not under warranty so I am trying the stop leak route first.

[marshall9779]

Well, I got the car up this past weekend and I don't think I had a leaking seal after all. I had gone through a car wash last Thursday with an undercariage spray and that had taken most of the fluid off the bottom of the diff. There was a little bit left, but it was only around the drain plug. I guess the drain plug just had some fluid leaking past. I changed the fluid and put some thread tape on both the fill and drain plugs. I never changed diff fluid before, but man that stuff is thick. Went for a drive after and felt good. It was an easy job and feel much better now.