Gatoraied

Hi, during a routine oil change service my dealer advised me I have a leaking rear axle seal. My jeep has 52k miles. Ok, they said it is covered by warranty, so no issue thus far. They also told me that my rear diff fluid should be changed and gave me a price of $189.00 + tax etc. OUCH!

Two questions but please, ff you haven't actually experienced this exact issue by having this service performed please hold back comments and allow people with first hand knowledge. Too often people, well meaning but often ill-advised, jump into these threads speculating and giving opinions without knowledge or experience. Thanks for your understanding.

1) During a rear seal replacement is the fluid generally replaced or if possible, is existing fluid just topped off to replace leaked fluid during the repair?

2) What is the fluid capacity of the rear diff?

Thanks!

lawsoncl

The drivers side axle seal in particular tends to weep, because of the amount of play in the shaft shafts. Even if it's barely weeping, some dealers are eager to replace the seal under warranty just because there is a service bulletin and Chrysler corporate is footing the bill. The service manual does not give an interval for replacing the differential or power takeoff fluids, and I'm very skeptical that it actually needs replaced at 52k. There is no dipstick, so they'd have to either remove the fill or drain plug to even check if its dirty, which I doubt they did during an oil change. Depending on which rear diff you have, the full capacity is 0.9 to -1.3 quarts, so even with the heavy dealer markup it's under $20 of oil. Some gear oil will be lost when pulling the axle seal to replace it, and just needs topped off. It only takes a few extra minutes to pull the drain plug to fully empty case before refilling, so charging $189 is ridiculous.

In my opinion, they are trying to upsell you on something that is not needed. If it's needed for the seal replacement then Chrysler is already reimbursing them for this. If this were me, I'd report them to Corporate as fraud.

Gatoraied

Thanks, I suspected that. This dealer has become incredibly aggressive in their push to milk customers. Among the things they push every time I have an oil change & tire rotation is replacing all the air filters, engine & cabin filter,r but never actually checking the status of them. Case in point is them saying they need changed and me telling them I already changed them just weeks ago and them still insisting. Prices too are getting out of hand. In less than a year oil change & tire rotation increased from $58.00 + Tax fees to $70.00 but with the fees close to $80.00. Cabin filter change $59.00!! I don't mind paying for services but I don't like getting gouged and conned!

lawsoncl

I've noticed that as well. They do a 50-gazillion point inspection, and they always find something. The upsell push is far worse if they think you're not mechanical. They send coupons in the mail to replace the cabin air filter for $29, with a free inspection so they can upsell you on something like radiator and transmission flushes. The cabin filter is $9 on Amazon and you can replace it yourself in a few minutes. Every time I've gone in for a recall at one particular dealer, they tell me I need all the filters done, brakes fluid changed, etc regardless of whether I just did the maintenance myself. This is the same dealer that gave my Trailhawk back with the check engine light on after doing the recall on the pcm firmware. Tech went to lunch without finishing and the service manager never noticed the check engine light when he pulled the vehicle back out.

I go to a different dealer now when I need something only the dealer can do, and they're awesome. They still do a quick inspection simply to avoid liability, and will point out potential issues but don't push repairs I don't need to do right away - for example the rear axle seal, which they noted and said it's not weeping bad enough to worry about. The parts counter also price-matches. I actually had them replace the rear driveshaft because their parts cost plus an hour labor was only $20 more than the cheapest internet price with shipping.

Gatoraied

FWIW I did get my issue remedied by the dealer. There were two issues at the time I brought my jeep to be serviced. One was the rear axle seal leak and the other which manifested itself just a day after I made my post was that 4WD was engaged without being turned on and would not disengage. This created the typical jittery front steering effect on pavement. It took the mechanics a couple days to figure out but determined that the rear differential was the culprit which is electronically controlled and not serviceable. The remedy was to replace the entire rear diff. As a result of that I had the fluid was purged and replaced. Took over a week as it was a holiday but they did give me a loaner vehicle. It was a new Dodge Ram 3/4 ton Hemi which in city got about 9-10 miles per gal, yikes! Over a month since repair and all is well.