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Dana 44 swapped in, axle seals keep leaking...

S

SyCo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Spokane, WA
This past week I went all out with my XJ project: 5" RE Extreme Duty, 33 MT/Rs, 4.56 gears, SYE, etc etc. I also swapped in a Dana 44 from an 87 XJ, here's some background info:

- Axle was 3.55 open diff, mileage unknown
- Shafts were removed and inspected, good condition. New seals, bearings and race installed
- Regeared to 4.56, still open diff (waiting for available Eaton E-Locker)
- Stock shock mounts cut off, new JKS mounts welded on
- ZJ disc brakes adapted, welded up holes on the axle flange and drilled new ones to the ZJ bracket pattern
- Currently using Rubicon retainer plates to hold the seals in
- Extended stainless steel brakeline installed
- Extended the breather hose using coiled air compressor hose

I finished up everything Wednesday night and took her for a test drive: drove great. Got home, and the driver side wheel/tire was covered in gear oil. Removed the axleshafts from both sides in fear that we got the wrong axleshafts into the wrong ends of the housing - it was correct, passenger side longer, driver side shorter.

Reinstalled the axleshafts taking care to ensure proper seal engagement. Test drove again, no problems. Get home, and the passenger side seal started leaking. Removed axleshaft and coated the outer edge of the seal with some RTV prior to reinstallation.

Another test drive, everything seems great. I drove it to work, where the jeep sat for a few hours, come back, and there's a leak on the driverside again. Pull the shaft, coat the outer edge of the seal with RTV, reinstall.

Test drive yet again, no problems. Got home, and now the passenger side seal is leaking again! I'm about at my wits end trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

I picked up some new seals from the stealership, and measured the diamater compared to the currently installed seals. New seals came out to 2.875", old ones are at 2.865". Is .010" enough to cause these problems? As far as I know they're the exact same seals, the ones installed I got from Crown Automotive (sorry, I don't have the box so I don't know the part #), but the Mopar ones are #83503063. The old seals look to be in great shape, they don't appear to be out of round or have any nicks or kinks in them.

Perhaps a clogged breather line is building up pressure in the housing and blowing the seals out?

The differential can't be overfilled, because the pinion is tilted 4* upward so the gears are actually getting less fluid than in a stock XJ configuration.

I don't think the shafts are bent or out of round, and even if one was why would both seals leak at different times?

Sorry for the long winded post, I'm just getting extremely frustrated and want to get my XJ back on the road. Thanks in advance.
 
im having the same problems with my xj 44. i just regeared/rebuilt it with all new seals and bearings and mine leaks on the driver's side randomally. its weird it will go for a week of driving and not leak and then all of the sudden i will drive it one time and look under there at the tire and it has gear oil on it?? i can't figure out why it would leak sometimes and not others???
 
Is it leaking from around the outside of the seal?? If so put some RTV around the outer edge of the seal next time you put the axle back in.

I've got an 44 in my XJ outa an 87, I used crown vic disc brakes for it, and the rubicon retainer plates, and the only place it leaks from is the vent tube because I filled the axle before I bolted it up, and overfilled it by about a quart. Oh, and my axle seals came from NAPA.

One thing I wish that I did was address that stupid plastic breather hose piece...what did you do to address that?
 
mjma said:
Is it leaking from around the outside of the seal?? If so put some RTV around the outer edge of the seal next time you put the axle back in.

I've got an 44 in my XJ outa an 87, I used crown vic disc brakes for it, and the rubicon retainer plates, and the only place it leaks from is the vent tube because I filled the axle before I bolted it up, and overfilled it by about a quart. Oh, and my axle seals came from NAPA.
Click to expand...

As per my post, I did RTV the outer edges of the seal. I just pulled the shafts this morning, and it appears that fluid is leaking from the INNER edge of the seal where it contacts the axleshaft. I'm going to install some new seals, and check my breather hose for any clogs (perhaps pressure is building up within the housing?).

One thing I wish that I did was address that stupid plastic breather hose piece...what did you do to address that?
Click to expand...

I just reused it and hose clamped a coiled air compressor hose as my new breather hose. I ran this to the stock nipple on the inner frame rail.
 
You havent mentioned anything about the axles themselves?They do make Speedie-sleeves for them!
 
RCP Phx said:
You havent mentioned anything about the axles themselves?They do make Speedie-sleeves for them!
Click to expand...
What do you mean? I had a 44 in mine that did the same thing. The passenger's side kept leaking no matter what I did. Sold that one and bought another one and am concerened that this one will do the same thing as it has some seepage on the passengers side already.

Oh and I too used Napa parts when I replaced the bearings and seals.


Ray
 
oh boy, this thread is not making me feel too warm inside!!

I use 85 140 oil...maybe you guys were running synthetic??

I have yet to notice any leaks from my 44....I'll take a look when I get outa work. I hope that it's a ZJ disc thing!
 
What's a speedi-sleeve?

I'm running 80w90 regular. Meant to fill it up with 75w90, but grabbed the wrong bottle. Gonna drain it when I get to the 500 mile mark as part of the gear break-in.
 
I've come up with three possible conclusions for my leaks:

1) Seals are bad for whatever reason
2) Breather hose is clogged and not allowing pressure to escape, thus pressure is building up and fluid is leaking from the seals
3) Bent axle housing

Installing new seals (and perhaps bearings if they don't come off in one piece) either today or tomorrow to eliminate #1. Going to check my breather tonight and see if it's clogged, look at a possible replacement to the plastic nipple on the housing/frame rail by tapping new threads and using a pipe fitting to eliminate #2. If the housing is bent...well, I guess I'm fawked until I can find another axle, that would really blow considering the time, money, and effort I've put into this D44...I'll keep ya'll updated.
 
did you look at the shaft is there a score in the shaft where the seal rides if there is no matter how new the seal is it will still leak. second rtv will do nothing to seal the shaft so you can stop wasting your time/money doing that. rtv on the other hand will stop leaks from the seal to the housing if that is the case. by the way if that seal is new it should have no problems holding back 80w-90 75w-90 or your grandmothers liquid turds.
 
am I the only one who runs 85-140?? Maybe that's why I'm the only one with a D44 that doesn't leak?? Or maybe it's because of the crown vic discs!!

A speedi-sleeve is a really thing piece of metal that you can sleeve shafts with. they are for when a seal wears a hole in a shaft such that when you put a new seal in, it still leaks. It just makes a nice new smooth surface for the seal to ride on.
 
Randy's Ring and Pinion should have some Eaton E-Lockers for the D44, in a few days.



SyCo said:
This past week I went all out with my XJ project: 5" RE Extreme Duty, 33 MT/Rs, 4.56 gears, SYE, etc etc. I also swapped in a Dana 44 from an 87 XJ, here's some background info:

- Axle was 3.55 open diff, mileage unknown
- Shafts were removed and inspected, good condition. New seals, bearings and race installed
- Regeared to 4.56, still open diff (waiting for available Eaton E-Locker)
- Stock shock mounts cut off, new JKS mounts welded on
- ZJ disc brakes adapted, welded up holes on the axle flange and drilled new ones to the ZJ bracket pattern
- Currently using Rubicon retainer plates to hold the seals in
- Extended stainless steel brakeline installed
- Extended the breather hose using coiled air compressor hose

I finished up everything Wednesday night and took her for a test drive: drove great. Got home, and the driver side wheel/tire was covered in gear oil. Removed the axleshafts from both sides in fear that we got the wrong axleshafts into the wrong ends of the housing - it was correct, passenger side longer, driver side shorter.

Reinstalled the axleshafts taking care to ensure proper seal engagement. Test drove again, no problems. Get home, and the passenger side seal started leaking. Removed axleshaft and coated the outer edge of the seal with some RTV prior to reinstallation.

Another test drive, everything seems great. I drove it to work, where the jeep sat for a few hours, come back, and there's a leak on the driverside again. Pull the shaft, coat the outer edge of the seal with RTV, reinstall.

Test drive yet again, no problems. Got home, and now the passenger side seal is leaking again! I'm about at my wits end trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

I picked up some new seals from the stealership, and measured the diamater compared to the currently installed seals. New seals came out to 2.875", old ones are at 2.865". Is .010" enough to cause these problems? As far as I know they're the exact same seals, the ones installed I got from Crown Automotive (sorry, I don't have the box so I don't know the part #), but the Mopar ones are #83503063. The old seals look to be in great shape, they don't appear to be out of round or have any nicks or kinks in them.

Perhaps a clogged breather line is building up pressure in the housing and blowing the seals out?

The differential can't be overfilled, because the pinion is tilted 4* upward so the gears are actually getting less fluid than in a stock XJ configuration.

I don't think the shafts are bent or out of round, and even if one was why would both seals leak at different times?

Sorry for the long winded post, I'm just getting extremely frustrated and want to get my XJ back on the road. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
 
i have an xj 44 in the rear of my 2000 and I have the same thing going on with mine on the drivers side axle, Its always leaking...gives me a reason to upgrade to some alloy shafts!
 
bj-666 said:
did you look at the shaft is there a score in the shaft where the seal rides if there is no matter how new the seal is it will still leak. second rtv will do nothing to seal the shaft so you can stop wasting your time/money doing that. rtv on the other hand will stop leaks from the seal to the housing if that is the case. by the way if that seal is new it should have no problems holding back 80w-90 75w-90 or your grandmothers liquid turds.
Click to expand...

When I removed the old bearings and seals prior to getting the 44 under my XJ, I carefully inspected the riding surfaces of the shaft and saw nothing to make me think I would run into any problems, they looked great, no gouges or scratches. Before I put new seals on again I'm planning to polish the riding surfaces to hopefully remove any imperfections that may not be seen clearly with the naked eye.

I RTV'd earlier because I thought the leak was from the outer edge of the seal, not the inner edge. After careful inspection this morning I was able to see that the inner edge where the shaft contacts is the area where the leaks are coming through. I'll have to look into those speedi-sleaves....
 
Last edited:
When you pull the shaft out next time be sure to check the diameter at the seal surface, compare that to the seal id.

Maybe it's leaking between the axle tube and the seal as well? Are the retaining plates holding the bearings tightly against the race?

If all else fails older waggies used an inner grease seal, then you packed the axle bearings with grease and used the outer seal... that may be the quick and dirty solution :)
 
Last edited:
I double checked last night, my 87 XJ44 with crown vic discs, brand new bearings and seals is not leaking at all from the axle tube seals. I used rubicon retainer plates.

maybe the ZJ and crown vic backking plates are slightly different thickness?
 
See I had this problem but I kept the stock brakes on because I could not afford the disc brake upgrade at the time.
I was talking to a buddy of mine about this last night about this and here is what he said...

In the ARB manual it talks about this problem. What could be happenning is the gears a creating a vaccum in the tube so that it will only leak on one side and not both. Can be caused by a worn shaft, clogged breather tube or get this nothing at all!
According to the manual there is a way to groove the tube (not sure on the location yet, still waiting on the manual) that is supposed to solve this problem.
Once I get the manual from him I will try and post the arcticle and pictures of this.

Ray
 
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