Front Diff leaking somewhere

[Dirtydog]

Hi guys, my Safari front diff has lost a fair bit of oil over the last few months, so it must leaking slowly from somewhere

My guess is that its leaking through the swivel somewhere so looking at how much is in replacing the seals etc in the hub and how much its going to cost.

Would it be a good time to rebuild everything while i have it apart?

also does any one have any temporary fixes that i can do quickly to stop it leaking even more?

cheers in advance for your help guys.

[nismo26]

Use inner seals from nissan the cheap ones #### out quick, might aswell put new bearings and seals in it while it is apart, i got a kit from aussie when i did mine worked out cheaper than here

[nzhunter]

step one: give the diff a clean, top up oil if required

step two: go for a drive/several drives

step three: look underneath front axle for wet areas of oil

step four: choose from:
a) pinion seal leak
b) diff mounting face leak
c) swivel housing leak
d) hub seal leak
e) leaking out of diff breather
f) drain plug/filler plug missing/loose

step four: dismantle area needing attention, replace parts as required, reassemble, recheck for leaks - ok

if you remove hubs check bearings for wear, replace if required, best to replace hub seals anyway if you have hubs apart

[Dirtydog]

i have a sneaky suspicion that one of my bearings are a bit rough, as it gets a lil shakey over 80ks, but it could be that its not aligned.

so how much does it cost for a rebuild kit etc?

ive checked bungs, theyre nice and tight and not leaking, and it seems that it has stopped leaking now it is past the axle tubes.

also on a side note, my rear lsd isnt working, its got brand new lsd fluid in it, not iron filings etc and oils not gunged up at all. is it just wor out?

[mudlva]

Personally if just a leaking seal and bearings etc are mint just do the seal, if bearings are dodgy then do the lot.
Its only a 20min job to drop the hub and do the inner seal
Inspect axle whilst out and check for excess ware where the seal sits. If there is see if there is a speedy sleeve that will do a repair std L/C seals are the same as Y60 and don kyatts do them for less than $5 each

[Dirtydog]

cool cheers for the info.

i will get to pulling it apart and have a look at everything.

[coxsy]

the box kit off tarrain tamers is $250 does both sides, all the bits you need, but grease and time

[Rotazuk]

also does any one have any temporary fixes that i can do quickly to stop it leaking even more?

cheers in advance for your help guys.

Undo the bung on the bottom of the diff , let remaining oil drain out . Replace bung . Leak fixed

[Dirtydog]

also does any one have any temporary fixes that i can do quickly to stop it leaking even more?

cheers in advance for your help guys.

Undo the bung on the bottom of the diff , let remaining oil drain out . Replace bung . Leak fixed

If only it was that easy lol,

[datsunsafari]

dont forget if oil can leak out water can get in

[Dirtydog]

one of the many reasons i havnt gone 4x4ing.

sucks cause waters thinner than oil so gets in alot faster than anything getting out.

i suppose the diff came out of a truck with about 200k's on it so probably needs some attention.

[Suza]

I rebuilt my front swivel hubs a few months back, its not that hard to do but dose take a bit of time. I had never done it before so I researched on youtube and watched the 2 following clips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3CI4mmEv6A and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlcVwWAAHw8 . Just ignore the Toyota name and its all more or less the same. When you put the axel back in just be real careful with the seal as they damage real easy (Found that the hard way), to prevent that heaps of lube on the axle and support it the whole way. Also keep careful track of where the kingpin shims came from and put them back exactly the same to keep the axle centred. Other than that heaps of drain trays cause diff oil will pour out of the hub

[Dirtydog]

cool cheers for those links suza, will be very helpfull.

probably wont be able to do it for a while, got the garage to clean out and other stuff to do first, but all part of the research.

[Suza]

Don't leave it to long as the diff oil will wash all the moly grease out of your c.v's and you risk damaging them as the moly grease is designed to absorb some of the shock that the c.v receives

[Dirtydog]

it wont be going anywhere anytime soon, ive got a good list to do to it before i can drive it again. first of all the body flares, then money from that will be going towards this sort of stuff.

still got to sort out rear handbrake etc, and lots of fidley things im slowly working through.