Rear Dif Front Seal Leak - 98 Leg Outback

[lmdew]

I've never seen a rear dif with a front seal leak. It's leaking where the drive shaft bolts up. I have pulled the splined front adapter out of other rear diffs but I don't remember if the seal was easy to get at or not.

 

Anyone know how to change out the seal?

 

I think I can do it with the rear dif in the car and just drop the drive shaft.

 

Thanks

[johnceggleston]

I've never seen a rear dif with a front seal leak. It's leaking where the drive shaft bolts up. I have pulled the splined front adapter out of other rear diffs but I don't remember if the seal was easy to get at or not.

 

Anyone know how to change out the seal?

 

I think I can do it with the rear dif in the car and just drop the drive shaft.

 

Thanks

 

i tried to, you remove the shaft and then undo the nut on the pinion. IIRC the seal is next in line and should be pretty easy. but, when you re-torque the pinion nut you are supposed to torque it until it requires a certain amount of force, something inch pounds, to turn the pinion shaft. you can't just torque the hel out of it.

 

anyway, i could never get the pinion nut off. like the rear diff drain plugs, if you do not have a lift it is hard to get enough leverage and swing room to unbolt it. unless of course you have an impact wrench.

[Fairtax4me]

Straight from the FSM for 95. You'll have to lock the rear wheels somehow or devise a way to hold the pinion flange still while you loosen/tighten the lock nut since I doubt you have the special tool laying around in your garage. Removal of the flange requires a puller apparently. IT says to use an internal 3 jaw puller or slide hammer to remove the seal but I think it could be done with a seal puller.

A: ON-CAR SERVICE

1. FRONT OIL SEAL

1) Disconnect ground cable from battery.

2) Move selector lever or gear shift lever to “N”.

3) Release the parking brake.

B3M0316A

4) Remove oil drain plug, and drain gear oil.

G3M0024

5) Jack-up rear wheels and support the vehicle body with

sturdy racks.

6) Remove propeller shaft from body. <Ref. to 3-4

[W1B0].>

CAUTION:

Wrap metal parts with a cloth or rubber material to

prevent damage from adjacent metal parts.

G3M0034

7) Remove self-locking nut while holding companion

flange with ST.

ST 498427200 FLANGE WRENCH

G3M0035

8) Extract companion flange with a puller.

14

3-4 SERVICE PROCEDURE

2. Rear Differential

G3M0036

9) Remove oil seal using ST.

ST 499705401 PULLER ASSY

G3M0037

10) Fit a new oil seal using ST.

ST 498447120 OIL SEAL INSTALLER

G3M0034

11) Install companion flange.

12) Tighten self-locking nut within the specified torque

range so that the turning resistance of companion flange

becomes the same as that before replacing oil seal.

ST 498427200 FLANGE WRENCH

CAUTION:

Use a new self-locking nut.

Tightening torque:

181.4±14.7 N⋅m (18.50±1.50 kg-m, 133.8±10.8 ft-lb)

13) Reassembling procedure hereafter is the reverse of

the disassembling.

[lmdew]

Thanks