98 V70XC leak at end of VC into rear diff

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 31 Dec 2015, 08:48

I noticed what smells like gear oil on my garage floor today. Jacked it up and found the leak area. It was dripping as I had the car up.

For the last couple bad weather days to me I felt like my awd wasn't working.

I did the VC test for the torque on the front wheel per Volvo and it easily had more than 50nm resistance.

What is the likely source of this leak? Anything else I should check on the awd function? It only feels like fwd as the front wheels keep spinning and nothing seems to lock up. New Colorado shaft last year no noises other than rarely on hard stops I could possibly hear a clunk in the rear after stopping.

One photo is the leak area the other is how Mich has dropped in 10 mins. I replaced all driveline fluids in the summer so I know they were topped off.

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 31 Dec 2015, 13:17

The VC test I did was from the Volvo manual where you lift one of the front wheels with the others on the ground, put in neutral and should be no less than 50nm resistance. It locked almost immediately and was well over that torque since the wheel wouldn't move. The next test was raised a rear wheel and see if it moved freely. It had the same outcome as the front test so I assume the VC is ok.

The reason why I feel the awd is not operating properly is recently in the snow and ice the front wheels would spin more freely and the rear end would fishtail. When I first bought it before the driveshaft replacement due to the bad cv boot is the thing would act like it was on rails even on slippery roads.

Post by **scot850** » 31 Dec 2015, 14:46

The VC doesn't have gear oil in it. It has a silicon solution. If you look up into the opening under the VC unit (as seen in your photo) there is no fluid at that end of the VC unit. What it looks like is you have a leak at the front seal of the rear differential possibly. To access that you need to remove the VC unit. But to be blunt, I would take this to a specialist as there is a pre-load requirement once the seal is replaced.

Anyone else, feel free to chip in!

Neil.

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 31 Dec 2015, 14:59

Thanks. After more searching it seems like it is likely the pinion seal.

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 31 Dec 2015, 15:05

Agreed, looks to to be the diff pinion seal leaking.

Here is the procedure from vida.

Post by **jimmy57** » 31 Dec 2015, 19:24

Everything needs to be marked and put back where found. The VC to the diff flange and the flange to the pinion.

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 31 Dec 2015, 21:08

Thank you everyone. Just because of my present schedule I may just have the dealer do it. Does anyone know what the book time is for the seal only so I know what to expec? Hope it isn't one of those $30 parts that costs $700 in labor.

I thought I saw a post where it was .5 hours but that can't be correct.

Post by **shiloh51933** » 01 Jan 2016, 10:52

dmcfan wrote:Thank you everyone. Just because of my present schedule I may just have the dealer do it. Does anyone know what the book time is for the seal only so I know what to expec? Hope it isn't one of those $30 parts that costs $700 in labor.

I thought I saw a post where it was .5 hours but that can't be correct.

Have you checked the rear camshaft seals? It's not too difficult and a common enough area to check and it drips down to area your talking about.

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 01 Jan 2016, 22:52

How would the oil from the engine make its way to the rear diff? It is gear oil that is leaking.

dmcfan · Post by **dmcfan** » 08 Jan 2016, 07:14

Just curious but has anyone had the leak caused by a clogged diff valve creating too much pressure?