Rear diff oil seal?

Hi all.

Help needed please.

Had my 06 Jimny for almost a year now. Had 14k when I got it, just over 20k now.

Suzuki sent a letter for recall re the Power Steering Pump Pulley... in today for 'warranty' inspection and replacement of the pulley.

Free of charge, but on collection, advised that the rear prop shaft oil seal was leaking. We can book it in for you now sir... just shy of £390. New prop shaft £260. One hours labour. And a few sundries plus the vodka and tonic.

I asked why not just an oil seal. The young lady said that's what she had been told. Arghhhhhhhhhh

Funny. I've been underneath a few times recently, but didn't notice the oil that was spreading across the underside before? Certainly none on the drive. Its there in abundance now...

I may have missed it, but I can't see a tech guide on here re these oil seals? Are they covered somewhere please? or do they not go that often?

How likely is it for this oil seal to leak this early in a Jimny's life? Its not been off road a great deal. Did sterling service during the bad winter, but only on tarmac and a few small excursions off road.

Doing the work shouldn't be a problem. I am close to the end of a full restoration of my Classic 1990 Mini Cooper. Just need a few pointers - and pictures...

Advice appreciated. Also, first class tech guides on the site, but is there a general workshop manual available for this 06 Jimny please? And where from?

I have seen the Haynes SJ, but it was sealed. Does this in any way cover the Jimny?

Lots of questions for a first post, but I hope you can see what I am asking.

Any help appreciated.

Peter

Hi Peter,

First the bad news about the guides on this site, if your the first person to do the job then you get to write the guide!

Although you call it the rear diff oil seal in the title you then call it the rear prop shaft oil seal. I assume you mean the oil seal at the diff end rather than that at the transfer box end.

Not sure why you would need a prop shaft. The bad news about prop shafts on a Jimny is that the CV joint at the transfer box end is not replacable so if this is gone then you need a new propshaft. If it is the UJ at the other end then it is conceivable that the joint can be changed. I suppose that a worn prop shaft would cause "wobble" that would knacker the oil seal but I at this mileage I would be very surprised.

The rear differential oil seal is pretty straight forward to change except that you have to reset the "pre-load" on the differential afterwards using a new crush collar. If you get it wrong then you need another crush collar etc. etc.

I would be tempted to change the oil seal and crush collar and ignore their reference to the rear prop. When you have it all in bits you can check the rear prop anyway for proper free movement.

As for the Haynes manual, don't even buy it if you have an SJ leave alone a Jimny!

The Internet is a wonderfully subversive place. A quick google for 99501-81A20-01E will get you the post 2005 model workshop manual. The disappointment for you is that the manual only contains the updates for your model. Therefore to see the differential which has not been updated you need to go all the way back to the 1998 Jimny manual, google 99500-81A02-01E

Hope this helps and I await the write up!

Martin

Thank you Martin. Service with a smile.

When I do it I will capture it for posterity.

And I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again

Peter

It isn't supposed to leak (Not like a Landrover)

I would check that the axle breather on top of the axle tube is clear before anything else.

If it has just let go in a big way something must have broken, likely the pinion bearings have gone, or it has picked up some grit that has marked the seal surface. Try grabbing the flange, and trying to lift it up and down. If you can move it relative to the axle casing, get another differential.

Anyway, consulting the manual, you are supposed to take the differential out to change the seal (hence my comment about not being supposed to leak, Landrovers often leak, and the seal is done in situ, in about 20 minutes, but Rover axles have ballraces and you just tighten the pinion nut with a torque wrench.)

The jimny has taper bearings, as Martin says, with a crush spacer between them to adjust the preload: you tighten the pinion flange nut until a torque of 9 to 17 Kg cm or 7.8 to 14.7 inch lbs is required to just start it moving. (that is hardly anything)

This is the same procedure as the Salisbury axle on a Landrover/MGB

What we amateur mechanics do here is mark the nut and the flange, so we tighten the nut back up to exactly the same place on refitting. We also need to get the flange back on the same spline, so we mark a spline too.

The jimny manual says to pull the flange with a puller, and press it back on. This can't be right, as if the flange is that tight on the splines, it would never adjust the preload properly. Certainly Landrovers just slide off: I've done loads.



Actually, being a very suspicious type, I would clean the oil off, check the oil level, and see if the leak continues. You don't need a propshaft to cure an oil leak .......

OK folks

I've been underneath and I now have a fuller story. There are more shafts under there than a Yorkshire Coal Mine... :silly:

It looks like the oil is coming from the main prop shaft that comes out of the rear of the gearbox.

I asked a mechanic friend and he says he can do it Monday for about £80. Given my other commitments and full time work, I took him up on his offer.

I'll keep you posted, but won't have the photos for the forum. :blush:

Thanks again for the help.

Peter

That is the transfer box rear seal. The seal surface is the propshaft, so the dealer suspects the propshaft has a damaged seal surface, and is changing the shaft as well as the rubber seal.

Likely the dealer is right, oilseals don't just leak, usually the seal surface is worn out.

Could still be a blocked breather though.