Help! Center diff leak?

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J

JohnPW

Joined
Jan 29, 2018
Threads
13
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509
Location
Florida
I pulled my 2016 LC out of the garage today and saw oil/fluid on garage floor. It was dripping off of exhaust piping in middle of the vehicle... I’m assuming it came from driveline above it. Can someone tell me what the problem is? I’m guessing center differential? Is it safe to drive to the dealer?

Last time I had it out a few blocks from the house, I took it into a grassy field and engaged the 4lo, crawl control etc just to exercise it since it had been awhile. Everything worked normally, but I’m assuming it’s related to this problem?

Thanks for the help! John

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JohnPW said:
I pulled my 2016 LC out of the garage today and saw oil/fluid on garage floor. It was dripping off of exhaust piping in middle of the vehicle... I’m assuming it came from driveline above it. Can someone tell me what the problem is? I’m guessing center differential? Is it safe to drive to the dealer?

Last time I had it out a few blocks from the house, I took it into a grassy field and engaged the 4lo, crawl control etc just to exercise it since it had been awhile. Everything worked normally, but I’m assuming it’s related to this problem?

Thanks for the help! John

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Diff fluid (gear oil) is fairly different than other fluids. Does it seem like diff fluid? Also from your picture looks like it’s further back on the vehicle than the center transfer case.
 
coleAK said:
Diff fluid (gear oil) is fairly different than other fluids. Does it seem like diff fluid? Also from your picture looks like it’s further back on the vehicle than the center transfer case.
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The drip is roughly in the middle of the vehicle, equal to the rear edge of the front doors. The fluid is thick, clear with a yellow tint. Looks Like motor oil but thicker. I don’t have any experience with diff oil as I’ve always had it changed by a shop or dealer. Thanks for the help.
 
OEM gear oil has a characteristic strong smell, different than engine oil. Your description so far is of gear oil. A ‘16 should not be leaking TC oil. Any recent service like an oil change, etc? The exhaust in that area gets very hot, so carry a fire extinguisher until you no longer have oil dripping on the pipe. Further investigation with a light and mirror might help.
 
Sandroad said:
OEM gear oil has a characteristic strong smell, different than engine oil. Your description so far is of gear oil. A ‘16 should not be leaking TC oil. Any recent service like an oil change, etc? The exhaust in that area gets very hot, so carry a fire extinguisher until you no longer have oil dripping on the pipe. Further investigation with a light and mirror might help.
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I have a compromised sense of smell so not much perspective on the fluid smell; I’ll have my wife check when she’s home. At this point I’m assuming it’s from a differential/transfer case. I’ll be taking it to the dealer but need advice on whether it’s drive able in current condition.

No recent service. I had 4wd serviced at 30k miles at dealer, I’m at 42k miles now. Oil change @ 7k miles ago. Definitely not something that should’ve happened based on age, service & mileage but here I am. I have to believe it is related to engaging 4lo and/or crawl control last time it was driven. This is my tow vehicle for a boat, it is not used off road often so 4lo only operates when I occasionally engage just to exercise it.
 
Just taste it. Gear oil doesn't taste like water. There is an AC drain in the center of the car, who knows if a pressure change or short drive or just sitting might have caused a bit of drain in that, but that is what I think of first for this.
 
grinchy said:
Just taste it. Gear oil doesn't taste like water. There is an AC drain in the center of the car, who knows if a pressure change or short drive or just sitting might have caused a bit of drain in that, but that is what I think of first for this.
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It’s not water. It’s thicker than motor oil or brake fluid. Need to know if I can drive it to dealer, or if I’ll damage getting there.
 
Battleship said:
I just changed the fluid in mine, I think it would be hard for the TC to get fluid onto the exhaust there. Can the grease in the prop shaft have separated and been squeezed out?
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Was just thinking this seems more likely that a seal blowing and having fluid run down the shaft
 
Hmmmm.......could be that seal on the DS. It does look like the suspension cycled a lot more than normal recently and if there was oil separated from the grease (common in some situations) it might have forced out the seal? Wipe it all clean and see what happens. If it was mine, I’d drive it, but YMMV.
 
Sandroad said:
Hmmmm.......could be that seal on the DS. It does look like the suspension cycled a lot more than normal recently and if there was oil separated from the grease (common in some situations) it might have forced out the seal? Wipe it all clean and see what happens. If it was mine, I’d drive it, but YMMV.
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Wonder if they over greased the slip yoke at your last oil change? Did you articulate the suspension more than normal when you exercised 4lo?
 
Supra88 said:
Wonder if they over greased the slip yoke at your last oil change? Did you articulate the suspension more than normal when you exercised 4lo?
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You can see the shiny part on the slip yoke has recently been extended further than normal; there's even a section that looks like it almost never gets used. Maybe the seal leaked when the DS compressed way more than usual and got the seal up on a rusty/rough area.
 
The 4 low engagement was on a flat grassy area. I was moving straight ahead. There was no significant movement in any direction kther than straight ahead on flat ground.
 
I think the different lines on the driveshaft are just where it is masked to maintain clean non-painted metal from the factory, and about half as far out the lip of grease where the suspension normally cycles.
 
Pull the zerk fitting off the slip yoke and cycle the suspension.
 
Well, if able, crawl under there and pull the T/C fill plug and see if the T/C fluid is full or not. If its full (should just barely drip from the fill plug), then you should be good to go to drive to the dealer presuming it's not a few hundred miles to get there. It may have been that the T case was overfilled at your last service and pushed the fluid out the vent.
 
Well, now I am thoroughly aggravated. I had the truck towed to the dealer early this morning. I described the issue and provided pictures. Dealer calls & says, “no leaks, nothing wrong”. I don’t take that answer. They say, “we’ll drive it to see if it drives ok”. I say you’re not driving it without checking the transfer case for oil first.

They call back, say the TC is full, can find nothing wrong, come pick up the truck. They offer no explanation on how oil/fluid is on driveshaft, exhaust, and garage floor.

Any other thoughts? I’m still concerned about driving the vehicle.
 
JohnPW said:
Well, now I am thoroughly aggravated. I had the truck towed to the dealer early this morning. I described the issue and provided pictures. Dealer calls & says, “no leaks, nothing wrong”. I don’t take that answer. They say, “we’ll drive it to see if it drives ok”. I say you’re not driving it without checking the transfer case for oil first.

They call back, say the TC is full, can find nothing wrong, come pick up the truck. They offer no explanation on how oil/fluid is on driveshaft, exhaust, and garage floor.

Any other thoughts? I’m still concerned about driving the vehicle.
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Clean it all up, drive it and enjoy it, and only take further action if it happens again. That would be my plan, if it was mine.

Was there, by chance, anything else parked in that side of the garage prior to the oil?
 
Sandroad said:
Clean it all up, drive it and enjoy it, and only take further action if it happens again. That would be my plan, if it was mine.

Was there, by chance, anything else parked in that side of the garage prior to the oil?
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Good question, no the only thing parked in the garage was the LC. The oil was on the exhaust and driveline as well.

I picked up the truck, drove fine with no additional drips. Exhaust looks fine, nothing burned.

I may engage 4 lo again tomorrow to see what happens. Really frustrating not knowing where that oil came from & why.
 
Maybe go buy some 75-90 gear oil and have your wife compare the smells. It is very distinct.

If that is the stuff the transfer case is the only thing in that area it can come from. Need to remove the protection covers for the driveshaft and see the output shaft seal.

I’d expect any base oil getting pushed out of the driveshaft grease to have a color.
 
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