output shaft seal leak - brand new truck
 

I have a 2011 F-150 XLT 4x4. Its got only 8k miles on it. I noticed today the output shaft seal on the transfer case is leaking.

I was wondering what folks recommend. I'm the sort of person that generally has the opinion if I take it to the dealer for work they will fix one problem and create 4 more. It seems to me the seal is an easy job, just dropping that side of the drive shaft and banging the new one on.

My main concern is that something else could be wrong. This is after all a brand new truck. So if I'm going to have transfer case problems I want to know that now so I can get all the service on the books. However if it is common for these seals to go, even at 8k of very light use, then I'll just replace it myself.

What does the leak look like? Dripping?

That should be covered under the extended powertrain warranty.

Its not an active drip while the truck is standing so its a little hard to show it. Plus I had just wiped it all down when you asked this.

Basically this picture illustrates it. The red areas had drips/splatter but it looked like all secondary spray. Where the orange circle is there was one major drip when I got home and it looked like the source of the rest of the splatter.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...df8300a6c6.jpg

I'm sure it is. But I dont really want to go through the trouble of bringing it in. Thats my question.

If this seal is something that can fail on a brand new truck then fine, I'll just replace it. It will take me an hour.

However if this likely means something in the transfer case is messed up, then I have no choice but to bring it in.

It may be an 8000 mile truck but it's not new, it's still a 2011 and in my experience the one of the worst things you can do is let a vehicle sit for reasons exactly like this. Seals tend to get hard and leak and other things like hoses and belts also do better when used regularly so that they're kept pliable.

I doubt it's anything more than a seal failing, fairly simple job to install. P/N 2L1Z*7B215*A $16.96 from us, retails for $25.70.

Steve

seal
 

Mine did the same thing on my 06 with 18000 miles on it. I changed the seal with an oem one and hasnt leaked since.

If it's covered under a warranty, the worst thing you can do is to fix it yourself which might invalidate the warranty down the road if a related problem occurs. I think the best move would be to have a dealership fix it.

- Jack