New seals, same old leak

T

tylerbrinks

Member
I replaced my front passenger side axle seal about a month ago sue to a small but persistent leak. It’s a 2017 JKUR with only 23000 mikes on it. It seemed fine for about a month but it’s already leaking again. Yes, it’s entirely possible that I damaged the seal when I reinstalled the axle (I have sleeves, so reinstalling the passenger side shaft is actually easy).

But having only 23000 miles on one seal and already leaking on the replacement is making me wonder if there’s something else I need to check. Other than a damaged seal, what else would cause the intermittent leak? It’s been cold here in CO making me wonder if temperature has an effect. I don’t know what else to check before I disassemble the whole front end for round 2.

Any ideas?
 
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Potentially a damaged seal during the replacement or a bent front housing could both cause the issue


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
I would put silicon around the seal between the seal and the hub next time. My boss replaced a whole housing on a f 350 one time. It still leaked. A little silicon and the seal fixed it.

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Arrcherr said:
How'd the shaft look when you pulled it out?

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Click to expand...

I'd say it was in good condition, if not close to new. It's a Ten Factory chromoly shaft that I installed at about 18000 miles. There is the slight bright spot where the seal sits on the shaft you'd typically expect, but nothing unusual. Straight as an arrow. It's the 2nd time I've looked at the shaft in recent times. I re-geared last year and it looked the same then.
 
You mentioned you have sleeves installed. Is it possible some fluid is trapped between the sleeve and axle tube and drains out when Jeep is parked on an angle, passenger side downhill?
 
Slimebones said:
You mentioned you have sleeves installed. Is it possible some fluid is trapped between the sleeve and axle tube and drains out when Jeep is parked on an angle, passenger side downhill?
Click to expand...

It’s leaking on level ground. I cleaned out everything when I installed the seal so the only oil is from a fresh leak. The fact that it leaked with an original seal and now with a new one makes me think it’s the housing that has the issue.
 
I've replaced my passenger side seal twice. It's leaking again too, so needs a 3rd one.

The first replacement seal looked mangled when I looked at it. Probably gooned it up installing. The second seal I make a fancy tool to press it in. But it's still leaking....

Jeep - 1 of 1 (1).jpg
Jeep - 1 of 1 (2).jpg
 
It's a bearing/seal press part on the left, and on the right a 1 1/2" socket which fits the new seals just perfect.
 
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