nsb_88

Hi all,

Took my car to my local indy for service A (ODO @ 204k km) and was notified that the front differential / pinion seal has a leak and recommend repair. This came as a surprise as I recall the MB dealer had looked into and repaired it back in 2019 (ODO @ 110k km). MB invoice noted the below for the work order at the time:
- RADIAL SHAFT SEALING RING
- SCREW
- LOCKING CAP
- HEXAGON NUT
- 12 HYPOID GEAR OIL
- 2X NUT
- 2X NUT
- HEXAGON NUT

Looking at the pic provided by them, I am not sure if it is even a leak as looks like MB overfilled it and oil dried up. Haven't noticed anything odd in day-to-day driving so not sure if I need to part with $1,000 CAD to get this looked at. Planning on driving around 1500 km in a couple of weeks so not sure how to best proceed.

Anyway, was hoping to get your thoughts.

Quint22

On my e250 that area had built up gunk. I cleaned it all off before servicing the front diff. It did not return. On my car there is some opening in the under plates close to that area so ya get road grime. Also anything dripping from above collects there (say if someone doesnt get all the oil in the fill tube when doing oil change). Atleast on my om651.

Do you do any of your own maintenance? If so swap the front diff oil thru that drain bolt. Will need same adaptor as the transmission, its pretty easy. Believe it takes .6l. Clean that area pretty good before hand then take a look later on and see whats up. IMHO anyways.

nc211

That’s not where to look for the leak. I had the same thing at 60k miles, and spotted it down where the wheel driveshaft enters into the diff. Mine had a tube around it, and with a flashlight down the tube towards the diff, it was very easy to see the damp gear oil in there.