pinion seal

[edw794]

i bought an 03 cobra a few months ago. the previous owner had ford replace the pinion seal almost a year ago. his complaint at the time was a rear differential leak.

i noticed a small silver dollar size oil leak coming from the area of the rear end on the garage floor. ford said they will warranty their previous work only if the repairs turn out to be exactly a rear pinion seal again. but they said they will not know what it is until they look into it. the cost will be on me if it is another type of leak.

apparently it is not leaking on a daily basis. before i bring the car back into the dealer, are there any other types of leaks in the rear end that is possible besides a pinion seal leak? it seems to drip right from the center of the diff.

ed

 

[ShelbyGuy]

It is far more common for the leak to be at the rear cover.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

A spot on the floor is only an indicator. You need to get a good look from underneath and see if you can tell where the leak is coming from. Just follow the wet spot. Like Shelbyguy said most of the rear end leaks are from the differential cover. If it is leaking from the cover, the front of the differential by the driveshaft should not show a wet spot.

Good Luck! :beer:

 

[ShelbyGuy]

if you remove the driveshaft and a bunch of oil comes out, then yes, the pinion seal is shot. on cars that are flogged really hard, its somewhat common for the pinion seal to loosen up and the crush sleeve to lose its preload on the pinion bearings. how hard do you beat on the car?

 

[edw794]

thanks for the replies.

i haven't beaten on the car at all. i'm trying to determine if the pinion seal is leaking again, or if it's a new leak before i bring it back to the dealer for a warranty claim. i know the previous owner did race the car around the track. there does seem to be a lot of free play in the rear end on occasions when i let the clutch up. would this have anything to do with the pinion seal?

 

[edw794]

i looked under the car today by crawling under there. the leak looks like it's coming from where the cover is. since the pinion seal was repaired before, did the cover have to be removed to do that repair?