Oil leak front diff query

1
I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter
2

Good working and non-leaking spare front diffs and VC's are very rare - Unicorn stuff.

Best off removing yours and get it fixed.

Cheers,

Scott

On 27/07/2019 3:18 pm, richo1166@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

3
Hi Peter, pretty sure the drive flange seals on the front diff are the same as the rear and are available from any of the usual vendors- van cafe, just kampers and the like. Could also be caused by an O ring that goes on the adjusting ring, but this repair is probably best left to a reputable mechanic. Hope this helps, cheers Eddie.
4
Pretty sure you can replace the seal in position after removing CV & shaft. You will need to move axle away, ball joint or tie rod undo, to create clearance to work.
Peter

On Sat, 27 Jul. 2019, 2:48 pm richo1166@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia], <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

5
Could also be a blocked breather from the diff . Check it first because if it’s blocked will cause oi to push past the seals

Sent from my iPhone

On 27 Jul 2019, at 8:23 pm, Peter Bellamy wanderingstar911@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Pretty sure you can replace the seal in position after removing CV & shaft. You will need to move axle away, ball joint or tie rod undo, to create clearance to work.
Peter 

On Sat, 27 Jul. 2019, 2:48 pm richo1166@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia], <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

1 Like
6
Peter,
Assuming the leak is coming from the fluid seals at a front output shaft, then you at least need the following 3 parts (per side) to do the job correctly. I say that because most if not all DIY written remediation procedures I've ever seen involve cheating & hoping by replacing only the outer seal and the outer cap. For example, see the following R&R procedure that cannot  involve replacing the large inner "O" ring seal:

Replacing the inner "O" ring seal is too hard for most backyard DIYers because I believe it needs the diff to be removed and opened up to get at that inner fluid seal.

See attached schematic files for the identification of the 3 parts.

Schematic 09a.
Position 20 - Part# 002 301 185A   round seal ("O" ring style)
Position 21 - Part# 091 301 189     oil seal
and

Schematic 09b.
Position 14 - Part# 002 517 289A     cap

If you prudently decide instead to engage a syncro professional, then Rudi on Bribie Island is the only recommended goto person.

Cheers.
Ken 







From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of richo1166@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 27 July 2019 3:18 PM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Oil leak front diff query
 
 

I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

7
Hi Peter,
Found and attached here some more R&R axle shaft seal procedures, including one from Roger Bayley ... thanks Roger! 

One of them includes a description of a tricky and high degree of precision method to also replace the inner "O" ring seal in situ.

Good luck with doing that, get it wrong and could well come to grief.
Cheers.
Ken 
From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of Ken Garratt unclekenz@hotmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 27 July 2019 11:40 PM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Oil leak front diff query
 
 

Peter,
Assuming the leak is coming from the fluid seals at a front output shaft, then you at least need the following 3 parts (per side) to do the job correctly. I say that because most if not all DIY written remediation procedures I've ever seen involve cheating & hoping by replacing only the outer seal and the outer cap. For example, see the following R&R procedure that cannot  involve replacing the large inner "O" ring seal:

Replacing the inner "O" ring seal is too hard for most backyard DIYers because I believe it needs the diff to be removed and opened up to get at that inner fluid seal.

See attached schematic files for the identification of the 3 parts.

Schematic 09a.
Position 20 - Part# 002 301 185A   round seal ("O" ring style)
Position 21 - Part# 091 301 189     oil seal
and

Schematic 09b.
Position 14 - Part# 002 517 289A     cap

If you prudently decide instead to engage a syncro professional, then Rudi on Bribie Island is the only recommended goto person.

Cheers.
Ken 







From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of richo1166@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 27 July 2019 3:18 PM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Oil leak front diff query
 
 

I just noticed a leak at front diff housing, not at input shaft but looks like on the inside of cv. Running down side of housing to the driveway..
Are these seals available and easy to replace at home.? Or should I take it to a shop?
I did a search and could not find them anywhere for sale.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Peter

8
The drive flange seals become hard and inflexible with age, and will wear out if you drive through sand or mud.

They are easy to replace for a competent home mechanic adhering religiously to the instructions in the manual, but it is a fairly major job to remove the front drive shafts to get at them in the first place.

Read the manual first to see if you have the right tools, and if you decide to go ahead and do it yourself (I did last year) you might as well recondition the entire front end at the same time, as you will be pulling most of it apart anyway.

You'll be looking at new upper control arm bushes and suspension bushes for sure - as these wear out regularly. Other things to consider are wheel bearings and seals, ball joints (or just the rubbers), brake caliper seals and hoses (or maybe a 'big brake' kit), longer wheel studs if you are considering mag wheels, steering rack rubbers, tie-rod-ends (or just the rubbers), and a set of quality shock absorbers.

After all that you will need a wheel alignment. You can do that at home too if you have a level slab, but that's another story.

I bought all the parts first and it took me four full days to do the job, but I'm and old fart who takes half-an-hour to do a five minute job.

It sounds like a lot of work but after 30 years it will all need doing some day soon, and it's better to do it all once in your own time in your own shed, than break down miles away from home.

A quick word of advice - suppliers like JustKampers are NOT the cheapest supplier of quality parts. In fact, some of their parts are very expensive indeed, and not good quality at all. Tooley Imports in Sydney have supplied quality parts at good prices for nearly forty years, and if you place an order by 4 pm the parts will probably arrive the next day. VW Heritage in the UK sells OE parts at reasonable prices, and freight is usually free on larger orders. I bought some parts last week that arrived on my doorstep 4 days later! GoWesty and VanCafe have a good inventory, but freight can be a killer. Nick at Volksparts (Bungendore) is having a clean-out of new and used parts at the moment, and is always good for some advice. Mick Motors in Brisbane carries a reasonable range, but when dealing with Australian importers it always pays to ask the advice of the salesperson as to where the parts are made. They will sometimes carry to alternatives - cheap rubbish, and good quality.

Cheers, Roger.



1 Like
9

Awesome advice Roger.

For me - a job for my mechanic!

Cheers,


Scott

On 28/07/2019 1:14 pm, Roger Bayley gullyraker53@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:
10
Roger's work around sounds good, and further to that, doing it yourself, i would use services like CBC bearings to source the O rings and bearings. Take the old parts in and they will match them. Avoiding the rediculas over pricing cause its a VW. You cannot beat a FAG or SKF or some Japanese bearings.
Peter



11

Thanks Roger,
Silly thing is it has not leaked since… But on saying so I have to agree. Reco the lot when I need to… I have rebuilt landcrusier frontends before but that was awhile ago. I think when I do it it will be farmed out and $$$$ but to good of a vehicle to not fix… I actually intend (when time comes) subi conversation rebuild tranasaxle and front. That will be $$$$ but what would I replace it with?..

12

Just on this subject - I just had to have my power steering rack rebuilt and I can highly recommend Lucas at LPSR (https://www.steeringlpsr.com/) to anyone in the Perth WA area - sterling job at the right price ($450) and he even threw in a new pair of boots (I’d bought the seals kit separately)
cheers
Gaetan

13

Thanks for the tip Gaetan.

Always good to know of people that can fix at least parts of these old buses.