By sean flinn on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 07:53 pm: Edit

i have a 97 disco with around 54000 mi and while driving 70mph on fwy i noticed a ticking noise coming from front end. after being home for 30 mins or so i went out and noticed a 7inch in diameter puddle of what seems like gear fluid. its also all over the drive-shaft and axle. seems like a broken seal where driveshaft goes into axle. how hard of a job is this to replace this seal? anybody had to do this before? any help, ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated. thanks!

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 04:05 am: Edit

If its just the seal its no biggie. You just remove the four bolts that hold the shaft to the flange there at the front. THen remove the big pinion nut. Pull the flange and remove the old seal and replace with the new one. You will want to check to see if there is any play in the pinion bearings before diving into this. If it needs pinion bearings things get a bit mroe complicated.

By Tate on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 05:00 am: Edit

Would play in the pinion bearing be noticable by grabbing the flange (probably with driveshaft attached) and trying to move it in each direction?

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 05:05 am: Edit

Yes , but its better with the drive shaft out. If the shaft is in you have to have the strain off the pinion. Park on a flat surface and put the truck in neutral...

Kyle