my D44 is leaking from the axle seals, coating my rear brakes and rims in gear oil. the oil is coming out between the seal and the axle itself, not the seal and the housing. should there even be gear oil in the axle tubes? and what would cause it to leak from the seal/axle and not the seal/housing?

also, tonight i tried to pull the pass side axle out, and it wont budge even though it is unbolted... it slid right in when i assembled it

 

First, I know nothing about the D44, so take the following with a grain of salt. In a 10-bolt, for example, yes, there is oil in the tubes. Yes, it can leak between the axle and seal. When that's the case, often the axle, where the bearing rides, is grooved a bit and thus leaks. For the application I mention, an off-set bearing can be used to save the axles for a while, or axles, bearings and seals can be replaced.

JamesC

 

james, that is what i had at fist assumed to be the problem, but the axles are brand new moser axles with less than 500 miles on them. i suppose that moser could have made them just a bit to small...

 

Yup there is supposed to be gear oil in the tubes. Not sure why its leaking though with only 500 miles on the stuff. I assume you changed out the bearings and seals when u put the new axles in? Did you do the work yourself or have a shop do it? If its the shops fault they may stand behind their work and fix the problem. If you installed it you might be looking at pulling the axles and redoing the seals and bearings.

I installed my own axles on my 9 bolt and have a ever so slight seap from both seals. Im not really sure why this is but im just going to live with it since it doesnt really leak that much at all. If yours is leaking enough to coat your brakes though its time to pull it apart and find out why. Parts place might have also given u the wrong seals? Also want to note that there is a right and a left seal so if you have them reversed they may not work as intended. There are grooves that face a certain direction in order to keep the fluid in. If you have them reversed i would assume they would be helping to push it out.

 

i THINK that i used the wrong seals the more i look at it... so i am going to get new seals/bearings and try that. the directional seal would make sense also, ill have to double check that when i do the new seals

 

Did you find the correct seals? The reason I'm asking is because I'm looking for seals and bearings and I'm not having any luck. The GM part number is discontinued.