Board logo

Oil leek from diff English axle
ceebmoj - 13/4/12 at 08:37 AM

Looking at the car this morning there was an patch of oil under the diff. Had a quick look about but could not see any thing obvious. So what are the normal suspects?

Daddylonglegs - 13/4/12 at 08:42 AM

Front seal is my guess.

Rob WM - 13/4/12 at 08:45 AM

I had a simular experience, oil .... no obvious leak! First smell the oil (weird I know) and check it is diff oil not something else. If it is I would check the front flange of the diff is not coming loose. (Nut holding is usually within the space left by the UV of the prop. Mine had come loose and oil was weaping out of there, being removed by the prop spinning at speed and so I couldn't see where the leak was until I took off the prop and checked the nut on the front flange of the diff.

Only a thought!!!

GeoffT - 13/4/12 at 09:08 AM

There have been quite a few instances of oil leaking through the factory weld where the diff mounting face is welded to the axle casing - my axle being one of them....

It's usually only a very slow leak, just enough to leave that annoying patch on the garage floor. Hopefully not the cause of your problem, but worth looking out for...

andylancaster3000 - 13/4/12 at 09:21 AM

It could also be the preload tube between the pinion and the drive flange. With abuse I believe these can crush further and slacken off also causing a leak through the front seal.

For competition use etc many people fit a solid tube instead of the crushable one to get round this. Worked well for us anyway!

twybrow - 13/4/12 at 11:06 AM

quote:
Originally posted by andylancaster3000
It could also be the preload tube between the pinion and the drive flange. With abuse I believe these can crush further and slacken off also causing a leak through the front seal.

For competition use etc many people fit a solid tube instead of the crushable one to get round this. Worked well for us anyway!


I have this fitted too - had a leak fromt hat front seal caused by the continued crushing of the origianl crush tube. I had my axle refurbed by Procomp, who fitted a LSD and replaced the bearings/seals throughout... problem solved.

dont be tempted just to tighten up the nut on the front of the axle - if it is loose, you need to set it up again properly!

paulf - 13/4/12 at 12:50 PM

Mine had a leak for sometime that l lgnored as i thought it was the front seal leaking.
When i got around to looking at it it tuned out to be as simple as retightening the diff to axle mounting bolts.
Paul

ceebmoj - 13/4/12 at 01:33 PM

Thanks for the input will have a play tomorrow and see what I can see.

Marcus - 13/4/12 at 06:08 PM

I have the very same issue, thanks for all the replies!!

Furyous - 28/4/12 at 06:34 AM

I thought one of my brakes was leaking because there was some fluid on the inside of the wheel and running down onto the ground. I replaced the brake cylinders but still found fresh fluid on the wheels. I decided it was probably oil so I looked into it and there's a fairly common problem with the seals on the end of the axle where the hub attaches. I can't remember the specifics. Someone suggested removing the seal and putting some silicone sealer on then replacing the seal. You can probably find it with a search.

I never got around to doing it myself.