Leak at front of driveshaft?
 

I have a black oil at the rear of my front axle where the driveshaft meets it. Any guesses? It is pretty much below the puke tube, but my engine oil usually stays a honey color (mine is an 03 SO, so oil never turns black). This oil is BLACK. Gear oil in the axle never gets this black either, since I change it every 15k. I never see any oil on the ground, so I'm inclined to think the oil just got puked and is black from dirt accumulated in the tube. What do you think? Anybody see this before? Is the rear seal in the front axle prone to going out at 45k? Thanks! Just hate to take my truck to the dealer for something stupid and run the risk of having them reflash the computer against my will...

Wipe everything clean and watch where it begins to leak from - lots of places up front for it to start from. Front driveshaft pinion seals usually don't leak like the rear ones.

Pinion seal is the most likely culprit. I've already had mine done. I attribute it to to many runs down the track in 4x4. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Mine was replaced under warranty...............good luck as it cost $900.00. to do the one on my 98 4x4.

Rick

Did you race your '98 in 4WD?

The seal is inexpensive, but it requires taking everything else in the diff out to replace it.

Mine is leaking everywhere after just having my tranny upgraded, I have 70500 miles on it and don't know if I should try and get it warranted(slim chance over 70000) or beat on the tranny shop that obviously caused the problem. What would you guys do, the tranny shop is 2 hrs away.[verymad]

The pinion seal or the tailshaft seal is leaking?

... since you mentioned tranny mods

Yeah, it's the rear drive shaft seal W/ rubber boot over it, at the rear of the transfer case. The tranny got a new vb & tc, and I'm sure all this was disrupted in the process. Never any leaks before.

Thanks for the replies. I'll clean it up an watch it for a few days and see if I can pin-point where it's coming from. I'm still in my powertrain warrantee, I just hate my local dealer. Looks like I might have to pay them a visit...

That's an easy poll... how many of us actually LIKE our local dealer?

You could pull the driveshaft and make sure the seal and yoke end are free of debris - they've been known to be reinserted after dragged across the shop floor or something. [verymad]

XLR8R,

My 98 was a gasser and had 347rwhp with 285 75 R 16's so no racing here!

108k miles did the trick on that one![laugh]

Rick

My '98 V-10 killed the rear pinion seal around 150K... sucks when a Dana 80's posi starts locking up intermittently on the highway after spinning bone dry for a couple of states - talk about your unsafe lane changes!

Dealer called, only 160.00-180.00 if out of warranty, parts and labor. I'll pay that so I don't get dirty.:cool: