P38 axle seal mystery leak

feyniriel · Jul 12, 2023

Range Rover P38 automatic, 2.5dse 1999.

Bought the car with front right axle leaking. Changed the old seal which was broken, leak continued. Took it apart again suspecting the wheel hub might've been misaligned, but we measured it and it seems aligned. The replaced seal is intact.

What could be causing the axle to leak?

We replaced all the diff oils, but the front diff took more oil than it says in the manual before it started leaking out. In the manual it's supposed to take 1.7l of oil, we put 2.2l before it came out.

Flossie · Jul 12, 2023

Axle breather clear?

Flossie · Jul 12, 2023

Garter spring on the seal facing the diff.? If the above two suggestions are not it then it's almost certainly the centralising. It's quite critical and I don't think measuring it will cut the mustard, you need to borrow or make the tool, how to is out there on the net somewhere cos I've seen it.

Grrrrrr · Jul 12, 2023

Certainly a mystery. I cannot see how it can make it past that seal unless the seal is compromised. All I can think is expose the seal, wash it all off and then add diff oil and watch where it leaks through. You might even get a bike pump and force a tiny amount of air down the breather.

Mark Piercy · Jul 12, 2023

feyniriel said:
Range Rover P38 automatic, 2.5dse 1999.

Bought the car with front right axle leaking. Changed the old seal which was broken, leak continued. Took it apart again suspecting the wheel hub might've been misaligned, but we measured it and it seems aligned. The replaced seal is intact.

What could be causing the axle to leak?

We replaced all the diff oils, but the front diff took more oil than it says in the manual before it started leaking out. In the manual it's supposed to take 1.7l of oil, we put 2.2l before it came out.

It does look like there is a ridge on that axles seal surface. Did you run some emery cloth around the seal surface first to clean it up?

feyniriel · Jul 13, 2023

Mark Piercy said:
It does look like there is a ridge on that axles seal surface. Did you run some emery cloth around the seal surface first to clean it up?

We did clean it, the ridge is from the touch point of the seal.

Datatek · Jul 13, 2023

feyniriel said:
We did clean it, the ridge is from the touch point of the seal.

If there is a noticeable depression ridge in the shaft where the seal touches, maybe the shaft is too worn to seal.

feyniriel · Jul 13, 2023

Grrrrrr said:
Certainly a mystery. I cannot see how it can make it past that seal unless the seal is compromised. All I can think is expose the seal, wash it all off and then add diff oil and watch where it leaks through. You might even get a bike pump and force a tiny amount of air down the breather.

We put a new seal, cleaned it thoroughly and closed it up. We're waiting to see if it keeps leaking, though we didn't do anything differently from last time when we replaced the seal.

feyniriel · Jul 13, 2023

Datatek said:
If there is a noticeable depression ridge in the shaft where the seal touches, maybe the shaft is too worn to seal.

It's not noticeable, with a finger you can barely feel it. In the picture it looks more discolored than ridged. But we considered this possibility, that would suck though as new shafts are troublesome to get. Luckily my boyfriend has a Disco2 which has a compatible shaft with my P38.

Mark Piercy · Jul 13, 2023

feyniriel said:
It's not noticeable, with a finger you can barely feel it. In the picture it looks more discolored than ridged. But we considered this possibility, that would suck though as new shafts are troublesome to get. Luckily my boyfriend has a Disco2 which has a compatible shaft with my P38.

A lot of messing about to swap and try but it could save a lot of money sourcing a replacement. If it still leaks the adjustment on the lower ball joint is out.

P38 axle seal mystery leak

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