Just noticed some drops on the driveway and took some pictures. What is the repair here? A seal?

Can this be driven or park it until fixed?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

Looks like an oil seal leaking at the driveshaft.

In 2020 I removed the driveshaft on my 1988 Mazda truck and replaced its leaky seal, was pretty straightforward. I would guess 1 hour labor at an independent ASE shop.

 

Would that be the pinion shaft seal? Drain/refill rear differential fluid at the same time?

 

Cusser is right. You have a leaking pinion gear seal. You can drive it, but if it gets worse you'll have to replace it. Just make sure you have the gear oil up to the bottom of the intake plug.

 

I took this to a local shop and while they confirmed the pinion seal leak, they advised against changing the seal, stating the pinion bearings are starting to make a little noise which I am not hearing.
Not sure what to make out of that and did not expect that as a solution.
Recommendations on next steps? If I leave it I will have to buy some gear oil and fill periodically.

 

get a second opinion. pinion bearings make noise on acceleration and deceleration....unless they are completely gone then will growl all the time. If you need to change bearings in a diff...change them all. metal from the bad bearing will get into all the others.

 

Thanks for the reply. I thought that by identifying the repair it would just get repaired. This shop did not even consider replacing the bearings etc. Just advised against the pinion seal repair and eventually replacing the rear differential all together.

 

Have someone pull the yoke off and replace the seal and put in new oil. I just had this done on my original 65 Malibu (200K miles or so). There wasn't even a groove in the yoke. Mine was leaking for a few years and I just got tired if checking the oil level.

 

Good idea! Hate getting under the car to check axle oil. Most people dont even change it.

 

I took it to a Chevy dealer. They are replacing the pinion seal but not the crush sleeve. Does anyone know if that is the proper Chevy procedure for a pinion seal repair? I am curious as to what their repair guide states for a pinion seal repair.