Oil leak front differential

i noticed my truck was leaking a little oil this morning and this is what i discovered. The picture is on the front differential where the axel goes into it. Is this a bad cv joint or a bigger problem? I can also hear a squeal coming from up front while driving. Also, the cv joint on the drver side (leak side) seems to have alot of play (front to back). Thanks in advance for any help

 

Looks like the axle seal has gone bad.

That undercarriage is screaming for a pressure washing. I would hate working on that.

 

I had this problem on my 2 gen where the drive side cv joint was really loose. For me it was just a CV seal in the differental which was like 100 bucks to fix. I had a pretty good size oil leak for mine to.

 

i had abad seal on the same side in my 01.couldnt keep oil in it. ichanged it on saturday, the seal was $13 from the dealer. disconnected the tie rod end ,lower balljoint and bungeed everything off towards the back off the truck.

 

mine was nasty too.i took the skid plate off to keep an eye on it which just let it blow all over everything. the truck got a new frame inthe fall .you couldve eaten off of it.not anymore

 

Macgyver-

Of course it figures i went wheeling the nigght before i noticed the leak

Mike-

The CV boots still look like they are in decent shape but i have a 3in spacer lift and was curious if this could have been caused by the angle of the axel now that i lifted it...Also, is it safe to drive it like this for a while without further damage to the axel/differential?Thanks again for advice guys.

 

Could be due to the spacer...but it would be hard to determine that.

Just keep the fluid topped off and you should be able to drive it..provided it doesn't get worse.

 

it leaked less than aweek and i couldnt keep oil in it. its also apain in the balls getting oil in it. good luck.

 

I topped the fluid off and the diff. has been dry since doing so. I will keep an eye on it..hopefully it wont leak. Is is uncommon for dirt/mud to get in around the axle seal resulting in a 'temporary' leak?

 

i would think if the seal got disturbed it wouldnt be seated right but anythings possible. good luck.