Pinion Seal Leak?

[Bimmer-Bob]

Pretty sure I know what this is, but just want to get some second opinions.

So I've got the car up on jack stands for some roti e maintenance, and I notice some gunk on the resonator. Look up and the Howard section of the tea diff is damp with oil, and there is splatter above and below. Smells like diff oil (i.e., gross). No obvious leak, stains in the driveway, or funky noises from the rear end.

My suspicion is that this is a pinion seal leak. I suspect it is a slow, seeping leak and the oil is being flung all around by the rotating drive shaft. Any reason to think differently?

My plan is to top off the diff and take it in to have the pinion seal replaced, but I need to wait a couple of weeks because I'm in the process of moving from Washington State to San Diego (the car will be trailered by me, so no worries there).

I'm a little bummed because the diff is a Performance Gearing LSD that was installed about 4.5 years ago, I would've expected the seal to still be good. But I wonder if the shop reused the stock seal, which would be 10 years old at this point. My novice doesn't show a charge for a new pinion seal, and I'm not sure if one was included with the diff or not.

Anyway, pic below. Thanks. [IMG][/IMG]

[iminhell1]

I'd not worry much about it. Just check frequently ... and if it's not leaving puddles, every oil change or before track days would be often enough.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

I'd not worry much about it. Just check frequently ... and if it's not leaving puddles, every oil change or before track days would be often enough.

Thanks. I'm guess I'll know how serious it is once I top it off, and especially after monitoring it for a while. I guess my fear is it getting suddenly worse at some point and losing a ton of oil all at once. Don't want to ruin my LSD.