Leaks, leaks......and more leaks!!!

[gophergunner]

2006 GMC sierra, Duramax/Allison, 186, 950 km's

Transmission cooling lines......on my 4th set right now.......they are actually holding out this time. (knock on wood)

Power steering lines.....second set, leaking like crazy and making the drivers side of my truck rust proof when I drive down the highway. They seem to have just gotten worse within the last few days.

Front differential, needed new seal on drivers side output shaft. What was supposed to be a minor 1 hr job quickly turned into a $450 bill, several hrs of work and 2 days without my truck. All good now, but lets see for how long.

Had to do a rear wheel hub seal on the passenger side. Noticed it when I had the truck on the hoist to change oil. Had my park break soaked in oil. All fixed and seems to be fine now.

Notice my rear pinion seal has just started to leak......and JUST started as in the last 10 km or so that I drove the truck because it has barely any spray on the diff, but its getting wet.

My biggest issues with my truck have been leaks it seems. GM doesn't seem to have any good luck with aluminium to rubber lines, maybe they should take notes from board like this....



I wonder how hard it is to change out the rear pinion seal? Is it one of those "quick and easy" like the front axle seal? Or is it actually going to be quick and easy? Or is it really a tough one to deal with? Wouldn't mind fixing it sooner rather than later, and would sooner do it myself at home if I can but I don't want to end up tearing apart the whole differential just for a seal.

Thanks for any input....:)

[More Power]

Making a new set of lines using AN fittings, quality tubing and hoses would likely end your line leaks. Unfortunately, the factory crimped-fitting style lines and O-ring seals in the line ends (at trans and at cooler) can be a problem of varying degrees over time.

The rear pinion seal can be changed, but it requires a little care because there is a crush sleeve under the yoke that was originally set when the diff was first assembled (crush fit to correctly set ring/pinion mesh). A drivetrain shop should be able to do it for you.

Jim

[JohnC]

Tell me about the front axle leak. What parts did they replace? My '95 did it as did the '99 1500. Neither one made it any where near 950km. As far as I can tell, the side gear wears in the differential housing allowing the stub axle to flop around and trash the seal.

The pinion shaft seal can be done. The trick is to mark the nut , yoke and shaft and carefully count the number of turns when you unscrew it. Put it back the same way, same number of turns and align the marks.

[gophergunner]

On my front axle the leak was only the axle seal for the drivers side output shaft. But when I was trying to take the shaft out, the retainer ring inside broke (as I was warned may happen) which then required the removal of the entire diff. I took the diff to GM and they tore it apart and said a couple bearings were worn a bit so they replaced them and put new seals on both sides. Been good so far, but wasn't a pleasant experience at the time.

I was looking at the power steering lines today and from above the motor, looking into the engine bay I could not actually tell where any of the lines actually attached to the pump itself. Should sure make things interesting for replacing. I may just get some hydraulic hoses with steel fittings made up if I can figure out how to remove the current hoses.