Advice on rear axel seal leak

Hi Guys,

Two moths ago my passanger side rear axel seal leaked and the dealership replaced it under warrenty, here is the report I got back:

"2 seperate fluid leaks from rear diff. Pinion seal failed, right rear axle seal failed. R and R all parts necessary and replaced rear diff pinion seal. R and R all parts necessary and replaced right axle shaft, seal and associated parts. Topped off fluid. Road Tested".

Now my drivers side is leaking and I'm taking it in on Friday to get fixed (I will report this one as well). My powertrain warrenty actually ends tomorrow, but he is putting in the order today because I called him this morning.

Anyway, when I was scheduling service, I asked him if he could go into the spider gears to check to make sure they were ok and there were no metal shavings, etc,. He said they replace the axels and seals seperatly, so he dosen't need to look at the spider gears to fix it and that he gets alot of seals with the Titan/Armada's, but not many actually diff failures and that if he was to go in he would have to charge me a couple hours labor to check it out. I know the BEST thing would be a true-trac, but I'm tight on dough, and the seal replacement is free. My question, should I pay the shop the labor charge to check out the spider gears? It would be a couple hundred bucks prob. Advice is needed. I bring it in Friday morning. Thanks.

I would save the $200 toward a TrueTrac. If you drive in circles in a parking lot and listen, I think you will hear missing teeth on the spiders. Also, have you replaced the check valve rear axle vent with a hose vent? I think the check valve plugging blows alot of seals.

Thanks. That is what I will do. When I do the 60K service done, I'll replace the diff fluid and clear out any metal shavings that may have dropped in the fluid. The hose vent replacement you are asking about, is that the axel vent mod? I will have the dealership clear out the check valve and do the axel vent mod myself if that is what you are referring to. Thanks alot. Cheers.

:cheers:Thanks alot.

UPDATE: Took her in today. Had the seals, axel, etc. fixed under warrenty (my warrenty expired 9.8.09, but I called it in on 9.7.09 and they were ok with it). Then the service writer says to me, "we needed to order a new drive shaft, the ticking noise you heard was the the driveshaft, should be here Tuesday. Under warrenty"..more service work for the T......

I had a very interesting experience yesterday, at Nissan of Bakersfield. I went there, to get a new breathing valve for my 2004 Nissan Titan. The Parts Manager told me, that he had never had a request for that part nor have they ever changed such part on any Titans, so he had to order it from Nissan.

I told him about the Service Bulletin made my ODI (Office of Defective Investigation) under the NHTSA and he had never heard about that. He did confirm that they have changed countless rear seals over the years on Titan Trucks and when I explained for him, that if the Valve doesn’t work, an extreme pressure will build up inside the rear axel and that pressure has to be relieved somewhere, somehow and if the valve doesn’t work, the pressure more than likely will go via the rear seals. He agreed with me that it does sound logic and would look into it.

Now, I am thinking and it does sound like a conspiracy theory, but Nissan is NOT mandated by NHTSA to have a mandatory recall on a Service Bulletins by ODI. This is only an advice for Nissan to replace the defective parts if they break.

However, if they don’t replace the valves, then Nissan Titan owners will continue to blow rear seals and that is big bucks for the authorized Nissan service station, to ignore the problem and if the public doesnt know, the profit will continue.

Fellow Titan owners, what do you think? Conspiracy Theory? Lack of oversight by the Goverment? As long as life or death is not in question, NHTSA does not have the power to force the car makers to fix the problem. The car makers does not have to fix or prevent the problem and if it happens after the warranty has expired, then it is a massive profit oppertunity for the repair shops....hence the reasons why I have never seen so many post on rear seal problems on the Titan. So do yourself a favor, go to your nearest dealer ship and get a new valve installed if under warranty and if not, the valve is only $10.00 and you have saved yourself a bunch on future repairs.


Which brings me to the next story of mine about my transmission that went out due to massive leak while driving 80 miles an hour. In February 2008, my ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) line was disconnected from the air cooler line while driving and resulting in massive loss of ATF and as a result, fried my transmission. Nissan didn’t want to cover under warranty (about 53,000 miles) as they claimed that a body shop who did work on front left side of my truck was the cause of the clamp falling off. Sounds logic at the time and I took the body shop to court as they didn’t want to pay the $5,000 bill.

Unfortunately, I lost the case for more reasons than I can explain at this point. However, life goes on and didn’t think much about it until a friend of mine pointed out, that reports are available to the public from ODI in regards to Service Bulletins and recommended repairs by ODI. I did find out that ODI had issued a service bulletin on March 16, 2005 for 2004 and 2005 Titans and Amarda´s that defective clamps needed to be replaced and I received a Nissan Service Bulletin from ODI that over 3 pages explains how to replace all four clamps holding the cooler lines in place for the transmission. I did take Nissan of Bakersfield to court, but lost, as it flew back into my face about the body shop, kind of "who killed the victim, was it the Butler or the Maid".

Never the less, it does sound to me, that either Nissan or their service-dealership are doing MAJOR cover up on these major faults and problems and are not informing the car owners about the problem. This is again, that since they are not required to nor ordered by law to inform the customers about recommended Service Bulletins from ODI, they will gamble on that either the problem will not happen while under warranty and then when the cars are breaking down, there service station will make a nice fat profit on repairs.

So, take a look at ODI´s web page ( Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) ) for your particular problem and if you see something that should be your concern, get it fixed while under warranty or if no longer under warranty, then before it will cost you a major fortune.

This goes for the 2004 and 2005 Nissan Titan - Amada owners who have not replaced the hose clams on your ATF cooler line. If the hose clams breaks, like it happen to me, you are looking at about $5,000 repair bill and if its after warranty, you are **** out of luck, because Nissan does not need to fix the problem, even with a Service Bulletin from ODI.

AND for those who have not replaced the breathing valve on your rear axel, get it done.

Your comments and thoughts are welcomed