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Leaking axle seal?

mountainpass

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Guys whose seal is leaking what is the year and MDH(sticker inside driver door frame M=month, D=day, H=hour ) of your truck?
So far the earliest 2021 JT build with leak in this thread is 10-16-2020 the latest is 02-10-2021. My 2021 truck isn't leaking(yet!?) and it's a 9-06-2020 build.
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cb4017

cb4017

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So far the earliest 2021 JT build with leak in this thread is 10-16-2020 the latest is 02-10-2021. My 2021 truck isn't leaking(yet!?) and it's a 9-06-2020 build.
I suspect mine started leaking as soon as I drove it off the lot. It just took me a few weeks to notice. That was after a 100 mile day on dirt roads and noticing the greasy dust plastered all over the inside of the wheel.

Oh well, appointment to get fixed is today. We'll see how that goes.
 
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sdk131

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Well I get to join the club. Just went to take a look after seeing this thread and found passenger rear just starting to leak enough to show its first drip on the bottom of the rotor shield. 2021 Gladiator Sport S with Max tow (4.10 gears and wider axles like the Rubicon), 1200 miles on it Built on 2/3/21 MDH = 020318. Guess I'll keep an eye on it and get an appointment booked when convenient. Seems something was certainly amiss on the line at Dana. It's almost like the person inserting the right axle shafts was damaging the seals on all of them. This is a pretty darn consistent issue.
 
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cb4017

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Picked up my Gladiator from the service department and drove it home 60 miles this afternoon. Looked under it when I got home and did not see any fluid. I'll check it again in a few days.

Something did occur to me on the way home. When I had a Nissan Frontier I remember talk of the D44 axles springing seal leaks because the breather vents would get clogged.

So in the morning I'm going to do two things.
- pull the fill plug to make sure it's not over filled.
- check the breather hose to make sure it's not kinked or otherwise clogged.

Just thinking out loud.
 

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mountainpass

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Picked up my Gladiator from the service department and drove it home 60 miles this afternoon. Looked under it when I got home and did not see any fluid. I'll check it again in a few days.

Something did occur to me on the way home. When I had a Nissan Frontier I remember talk of the D44 axles springing seal leaks because the breather vents would get clogged.

So in the morning I'm going to do two things.
- pull the fill plug to make sure it's not over filled.
- check the breather hose to make sure it's not kinked or otherwise clogged.

Just thinking out loud.
Funny you mention that as I was telling my Frontier owning neighbor about the possible leak and he mentioned the breather issue with 44's in his model. Let us know what you find.
 

just_another_guy

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My truck is the one that was built on 2/10 and has been leaking since I drove it home from the dealer. I undercoated it the weekend after I bought it and spotted the leak when I put it up on the lift.

I'm currently waiting on parts, and per the service manager they are ordering an axle assembly that includes the shaft, bearing, and seal pre-assembled.
 
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cb4017

cb4017

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Funny you mention that as I was telling my Frontier owning neighbor about the possible leak and he mentioned the breather issue with 44's in his model. Let us know what you find.

Checked it this morning. The differential was not over filled.

I removed the vent hose from the differential housing and blew through it. It was surprisingly difficult to push air through with the valve on the end of the hose. I don't know how fast a differential will build up pressure but I wonder if this may have something to do with the leaking seals.

I think I'm going to replace the valve with something that breaths a little easier. When I did my Frontier some years back I think I just stuck a disposable fuel filter on the end of the hose.
 

Bumpy Ride

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Hey Guys... just installed my AWE Exhaust and my installer noticed some fluid on my right rear passenger side inner part of wheel. He immediately told me my axles were leaking... I wouldn't have noticed or to look until he told me. I was scheduled to regear to 5.13 tomorrow, but thank goodness, I caught this issue in time to reschedule at a later date.

I immediately called my dealer, told me to come in. The tech and serivce advisor said they will put in a STAR request to FCA regarding the issue. Should get a callback tomorrow. Either replace seal or replace rear axle. Only FCA makes that call. Also, if they need to wait for a part, they need to store my truck and maybe give me a loaner.... who knows how long this could be with everything being backordered and delays...

It appears though, everyone with the issue is getting new axles. I don't want to wait... grrr~!

Will update once i hear back from dealership...
 

Bumpy Ride

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So I just emailed my service advisor some pictures. He emailed me back and said the whole axle will be at the dealership in 5 business days. Whole swap folks... again, thank God I cancelled the regear tomorrow.
 

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sdk131

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So I just emailed my service advisor some pictures. He emailed me back and said the whole axle will be at the dealership in 5 business days. Whole swap folks... again, thank God I cancelled the regear tomorrow.
Nice - I am hoping to take a few pics and just show mine versus having to drop it off for a whole day and deal with all of that just for them to "diagnose" it. Pretty clear...oil where oil is not supposed to be, and only place it can come from is that axle seal. But I just may have to play that game with them and drop it off for "diagnosis".
 

Bumpy Ride

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Nice - I am hoping to take a few pics and just show mine versus having to drop it off for a whole day and deal with all of that just for them to "diagnose" it. Pretty clear...oil where oil is not supposed to be, and only place it can come from is that axle seal. But I just may have to play that game with them and drop it off for "diagnosis".
I hear ya... the whole thing is a hassle. Luckily I know the Master Tech and pulled up, showed him the issue and they immediately placed a request to FCA, when I got home, I emailed the pictures to the service advisor. FCA responded right back saying the whole new axle assembly is on its way...

This has got to be a known issue.
 

sdk131

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This has got to be a known issue.
Concur...this is far too many of us in a short period of time and with low miles. It has to be a slip up in a assembly procedure, machine calibration/alignment, etc. on the axle line, or a bad batch of seals or something along those lines.
 

We are in trouble

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Just got mine back from the dealer. Had to wait a week to get the axle but they installed it in about 3 hours. No problems no questions. Told me it was a seal but replaced the axle because it "came as a unit". This was the first one this dealer had seen but could somehow tell a lot of units are being ordered right now.
Obviously this is an issue with the JT. Hopefully Jeep will take care of everyone as easily as they did with me. I get the impression they know there's an issue.
 
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Bumpy Ride

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Just got mine back from the dealer. Had to wait a week to get the axle but they installed it in about 3 hours. No problems no questions. Told me it was a seal but replaced the axle because it "came as a unit". This was the first one this dealer had seen but could somhow tell a lot of units are being ordered right now.
Thanks for the update. My dealership said the same thing about slowly starting to see the issue... JK's were notorious for this.

My dealership said it would be 2 day install... I can't be away from my rig for more than an hour! LOL
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