Typerod

Hi all,

So about April 2016, I had my rear diff rebuilt, and my front right axle seal replaced. Tahoe had ~206K on it. Maybe August or September 2016, I was under the vehicle doing other maintenance and I see the ever evil hanging drip of differential fluid, right beneath where the axle seal sits in the housing. So I brought it back to the shop where they did the original work, btw a great shop, I feel they are trustworthy and do great work, and have excellent customer service, and stand by their work. They confirmed the leak as well, replaced the seal once again, they covered all parts and labor, and I was on my way.

Cut to this past Thursday, Im under the vehicle one again to see how hard it is to access the upstream O2 sensor, and I look over at the front right axle seal and I see that hanging drip of diff fluid again. Its only been about 5000 miles since the previous relacement. So yesterday, I was at the shop again, they confirmed it was leaking, replaced the axle seal, again covered all parts and labor on that repair. So I asked the owner, very good guy IMO, what is the next course of action if this seal leaks as well? I said, it would be overkill to replace the axle for this leak right, and he agreed. I wished I asked to see the housing where the seal sits to see any scoring from the previous removal. But I think they would've checked for that. He said lets just wait and see, which I agree with, I'm hoping it was just a fluke 2 seals that I got. I was talking with one of their guys who worked for GM many years, and he says those seals are a constant problem, he has done tons of them, and they always have an issue leaking.

The tech and the owner said there was pitting on the axle where it lines of with the seal, and that he had the tech clean it up with some emery (sp?) cloth.

My question is, is it possible that the axle wasn't seated all the way in? How does the tech know when the axle is fully inserted into the housing? Or is there no way that you can bolt everything back up properly and not have the axle seated completely?

I also had them drop the transmission pan and replace the trans filter, its never been done ever, ~220K on that filter. They showed me the pan, and I was amazed at how clean it was, I have been doing trans flushes at the dealership ~50K, never done just a fluid replacement or filter replacement till yesterday.

Here are some pics...


Thanks in advance!

tech2

if the seal leaks again the axle stub shaft should probably be replaced. doesn't sound like overkill to me. it unlikely 2 seals are installed wrong. i have seen then put in backwards. some seals say air side on them.

if you do fluid exchanges from new, gm is ok with not changing the filter. even better to change it. Most Japanese trans don't even use depth filters but rather a coarse mesh screen that never gets changed.

the filter has been changed before...that pan has been off, the gasket is a cheap one use gasket that comes with aftermarket filters, the factory gasket is a high quality $100 reuseable gasket.

Typerod

Thanks for the input tech2! Much appreciated! I kind of felt replacing the shaft was the only option left I was also surprised to find out that the seal has an inner circle to it that grabs onto the shaft and rotates with the shaft.