1996; 2.3; 4x4; leaking differential...

[LandonRobinson]

About five days ago I noticed that I was starting to leave little oil puddles everywhere I was going, today I crawled under there and looked and sure enough drive shaft seal for the front differential is clearly leaking all over the place.

From the looks of it I just need to unbolt the drive shaft from the axle housing, then break loose whatever big nut it has and then the input shaft should slide out shouldn't it and then pry the seal out and put a new one in?

My only other question is what kind of oil does the front differential use?

 

[Nez'sRanger]

This post is technically in the wrong thread, but if you go to the "Stock Specs" page, there is a link to a "fluids and capacities" page, which will have all the info you need. One of the moderators will move this post, I'm sure, and the guys can provide some more info on the teardown.

 

[Dirtman]

80w90, 75w90, or 75w140 gear oil. There's lots of opinions on which is best but they all work fine. Factory service spec calls for 80w90, ford now fills everything with 75w140, and 75w90 is the synthetic replacement for 80w90. Pick any one. If someone tells you that you "MUST" use a specific one, they are drunk.

As for replacing the seal itself, it's a bit more complicated than just remove and re-install. The pinion yoke nut sets the bearing preload and the pinion gears depth which is what macthes the gear mesh pattern. The nut must be re-installed exactly how it came off. Meaning the exact thread depth and orientation. It's also torqued to death and often requires a puller to remove the yoke.

 

[adsm08]

Once you take the drive shaft off and get the pinion nut off the yoke will be quite difficult to remove. You will need a puller of some sort.

The pinion will not come out, which is what I assume you are talking about when you say "the input shaft will slide out". The seal will pry out and go back on easily with the pinion in place though, so nothing to worry about there.

Before you start taking things apart though, grab the drive shaft and try wiggling it up/down and side to side, I have seen a few instances of the pinion bearing failing, and allowing the spud to move, making it look like the seal is bad, but just a new seal won't fix it.