Fluid coming from knuckle

[ibucki]

92 3fe 306k miles

Right knuckle has some thick black fluid coming out of it when the truck stops for an extended period there will be a puddle of it underneath. Fluids are good, power steering pump is leaking a little, and the oil at the dips tick is clean and clear. This smells like burnt grease but runs like oil. Attached pics. Any help appreciated


Thanks

 

[retrofive]

Time for a front end rebuild. Great write ups and video how-to's here on mud, visit the FAQ; Give Kurt @ Cruiser Outfitters a ring and he can set you up with the rebuild kit (seals and what not)

Cruiser Outfitters

 

[jblaze]

Looks like an leaky inner axle seal to me.

 

[Rivman1243]

Looks like your axle oil seal crapped out

 

[baselfish]

Bf

 

[jbatx]

Best video out there for this. ...Between these and the Cruiser Outfitters instructions, the job was easy. Dirty as f#$! ...but easy

 

[Kernal]

Do not use the CV joints grease shown in the video above that comes in a toothpaste-type squeeze tube, it's too thin, use NLGI #2 Molybdenum fortified grease (like Valvoline Palladium). Also, wash the knuckles off the night before you start the job, in the video above you can see dirt falling down into his work; sloppy. Search for FSM+Download on the forum and print out the section of the Factory Service Manual for this job. Also search for Front+Axle+Cheat+Sheet and download that also.

 

[Hornd]

Knuckle is full of grease that is thick like peanut butter.
If you have leakage then it's likely that inner seal that separates differential oil from knuckle grease has given out.
Greasy, Fun job, for 2 ppl if you have time and familiarity.

 

[Hornd]

You will need some special tools like foil pans for roasting turkeys and lots of Nitrile Gloves and Red Bearing Grease and a 54mm socket and Aluminum Bearing Setting tool from Harbor Freight (use 20% off coupon)

Chk this video out:

 

[ticoman]

Lots of vids and know how here on a easy but messy jod. One thing I found that makes things easier is to pressure wash whe whole front end, including inner fenders the day before.

 

[Ballsie]

Im doing mine next weekend. Not looking forward to it. I hate grease!

 

[bicycleagent003]

This is a fun, dirty job. Definitely the inner axle oil seals. Good luck, lots of good posts here on how to do it. Make sure you find the one page front axle cheat sheet on Mud, or PM me and I'll email it to you. I didn't make it, I just saved a copy. It has all the front axle torque values on one page, very handy.

 

[BullElk]

Make sure to inspect axle for small groove where inner seal sits.

 

[mrsleeve]

its not a bad job, just takes a little time and lots of rags, and I used about 8 cans of 3m brake clean,.

 

[oilbrnr]

so, assuming you have both worn out BIRFs and a groove in the axle shaft(s), what is the best route to go? OEM or aftermarket?

 

[BullElk]

One option and what I have done is get used parts that are still in good shape. Like from Deo Kline (Mel Lowe) and in classifieds. The groove, to me, is the most important issue. In the past I have gone 1000's of miles with clicking birfields. However, I do not rock crawl.

 

[ewillis]

I've done it 3 times now...becoming kind of a cathartic experience.

 

[bloc]

nitrile or latex gloves are your best friend for this job.
cut up a large cardboard box to put under the knuckle area to easily clean up the PILES of greasy dirt/grease that will end up everywhere.
The new torx-end knuckle studs are better than the old style. That said, studs are known to loosen just after a knuckle rebuild.. definitely research what people are doing to keep that from happening. (clean threads, new studs, spotless mating surfaces, loctite for the stud into the knuckle, etc)

 

[ibucki]

Thanks for all the input gents. I'm doing all the parts look ups now and hopefully I'll have some time to get to it this weekend or next. Time is my greatest enemy right now... about how long you guys think it should take for someone with a general understanding of all this and semi-handy with a wrench?

 

[jbatx]

Thanks for all the input gents. I'm doing all the parts look ups now and hopefully I'll have some time to get to it this weekend or next. Time is my greatest enemy right now... about how long you guys think it should take for someone with a general understanding of all this and semi-handy with a wrench?

It took me about 12 hours between running to the store multiple times for misc stuff, clean up, prep, study, testing, torquing, etc. I'm a compitant mechanic and pretty handy but I've never done axle work.

I bought the kit from CO instead of sourcing all my parts. I'm sure that saved me 3-4 hours. I also replaced my wheel bearings.

...while I was in there, I replaced the tie rod ends and adjusted the steering box preload. That added another 10 hours... And required a new heavy duty vice, blow torch and more beer