Rear pinion seal leak!?

[DieselViking]

So I was under the truck today doing a check to make sure everything's nice and tight and in order, and I notice that I have a slight diff. fluid leak coming from where the driveshaft pinion enters the differential. My truck's a 2006 with only 16,000 miles and I'm not happy to see things like that. I've only towed a trailer once in 16,000 miles and I generally baby my rig except when I clean out the turbo on the highway The leak doesn't seem major, though I can see some oil spotting further along the diff. and on the rear axle from blow-by whilst driving. Can this slight leak be ignored, or should I take it to the dealer for warranty service?

[DieselViking]

Been researching this. My seal is just weeping, not a steady drip. Based on this I may just want to live with it for a while, rather than have the dealer tear into it. I could prolly get it done for free cause the truck's under warranty, but I've been reading that if it's not done right, by someone who pays attention to doing the job with finesse, that in a few thousand miles the new seal can leak again, and if it isn't properly installed, by someone who rushed or didn't know what they're doing you could ruin your gears. Hmm. Opinions?

[mdiesel]

yea at work they took our 2000 f350 in 3 times and it still leaking
fixed it for a while

Matt

[peterbilt600x]

i have a 2005 f-350 reg cab long bed powerstroke i bought it pre-owned and the pinion seal was gone at 37,000 miles i would have it check because now my truck is in the shop as we speak for a whole new rearend a bearing let go and took all the gears out in the rearend

[Logan]

I would take it in. Get them to fix it, it is free.

[grabowskimech]

Take it in and get it done under warranty. Its an easy repair to do. Before you take it in, make sure your rear diff vent tube isn't plugged, don't give them an excuse to void warranty.

[TomM]

Originally Posted by mdiesel

yea at work they took our 2000 f350 in 3 times and it still leaking
fixed it for a while

Matt

the vast majority of the time if you have multiple wheel seal and/or pinion seal failures its because of as plugged diff. breather

[quick26]

hmmm i might have to check my vent. mine is weaping, but i changed out my ls unit also

[squeelpig]

i noticed that my diff was leaking after a 300 mi. road trip. it leaked so bad the underside of the truck was soaked. its been 6 months now and it is not leaking. ford fixed it under warranty. 05 truck had only 20,000mi when it leaked.

[nxcobra]

Ford has always had a problem with pinion seal leaks on heavy trucks when I worked for for I specialized in drive axle repair and most of the time the only way to stop it from leaking is to put a new yoke on it I even had to replace a complete housing 1 time on a dana . New yoke new seal if you get a good yoke it will fix it but it used to be a crap shoot