sjc2467

I have a '93 SC400 with less than 24k miles (not a typo). It has been driven only a few times per year, for most of its life (most of the mileage occurred early in its life), and was serviced regularly, by the dealer. I just started driving it as a daily driver, last month (at just under 23k miles).

I was checking the vehicle over, and I noticed that both rear axle (differential output) flanges are wet with some sort of fluid (the flange where the axle bolts to the stub-shaft--not exactly sure what the "correct" term is for them). It seems a safe bet to assume that it's gear oil from the differential (leaking output seals) however, there is absolutely no fluid on the differential itself--just on the flange, and it seems odd that both output seals would develop leaks with only 24k miles. The only other possibility, as far as I know, is grease from the CV joints, but both boots appear intact.

The car has never left any oily spots under it (kept in a garage with a clean floor, so it would be easily noticeable), however, there is a significant amount of residue "sprayed" on the bottom of the car, above the flanges (what I assume is the gas tank). It almost looks as if the fluid is leaking from above, but it's definitely not fuel, so that doesn't make sense.

Any ideas?

Should I just clean them off and see if it comes back?

(I have not checked the differential fluid level, yet. I will be changing over to Amsoil synthetic fluid, soon, so i will check it when I drain it.)

Left (driver's) side:



Right side. You can see where I wiped a bit away, with my finger:



Also, the bottoms of the oil pan, transmission pan, nearby areas of the body, as well as the diff are all coated with some sort of black paint. Is this some sort of rust-protection applied by the dealer? (It looks wet and gooey, like residue from fluid leaks, but it's hard.)

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

Since you live in Massachusetts, the owner could have had that rust protectant on. that would be my guess

sjc2467

The car spent most of its life in NY (Long Island). (I am temporarily living in MA, but will be moving to long island soon--same house, actually.) Of course, your point is still 100% valid, as rust is just as big an issue in NY.

It's kind of pathetic, as far as rust-proofing goes, because I'm not too worried about the differential, engine, or transmission rusting out. It does cover the cross-member that holds the transmission, but other than that, it's on very little of the body of the car (none of the spots that are typically rust-prone). As far as I know, this car was only serviced at the dealer (usually once per year). Normally I would be surprised that a well respected dealer would recommend such a useless treatment, but considering the other work they did, I'm not terribly shocked (according to the maintenance records, apparently the power steering rack, oil pan, and transmission pan all sprung serious leaks and had to be replaced, and for some reason, it was necessary to strip almost every screw that holds the plastic panel on, under the engine, lose some of the screws, and replace a few with ones that are obviously several sizes too big, and supposedly, on several of the services, they used 5w-20 oil, instead of 5w-30).

salimshah

Just replaced drive axle seals.

Tips:

1, There is no need to remove the shaft from the wheel. Just undo the 6 bolt flange on the diff side and you can push away the shaft and tuck it away with a bungee cord.

2. To pull off the side shafts from the diff, I used 2 of the 6 flange bolts. After tucking away the axle shafts, I screwed in the 2 bolts. Just before they hit the diff body, I placed small box end wrenches. Evenly tighten the bolts and the side shafts will come out. Exercise some care as the tip of the bolt can get damaged (buy mm size nuts and thread them on the tip of the bolt).

3. I had to take the exhaust off to create room to put in the new seal.

4. You can build a seal driver with 2.768" OD washer. I am sure OD of 2-3/4" would work.

Problems:
Lack of room to work with vehicle on jack stands.
Smell of gear oil

Salim