As the title says, I have a very slight leak coming from the front of my rear diff, where the drive shaft yoke joins to the differential. This concerns me after reading all the horror stories on here of the weak rears the V's have. But my problem is not major I don't think, not yet. It only leaves a small puddle of fluid (maybe 2-3 oz.) on my garage floor ONLY after extended driving. I drive the V everyday to work but my work is less than a mile from my house. Occasionally I take a weekend trip to pick and drop off my daughter and after those long trips is the only time I see the leak on the floor. This would indicate it only happens when the differential reaches high temp. I got curious today and jacked the rear up to see where the fluid was leaking from and it seems to be coming from the front seal where the drive shaft junctures with the diff. Anyone else had this problem and could give some insight on causes and solutions? Or a link to a how to of tearing this apart would help greatly.

The car drives fine with exception for the horrible shifter it has. I've been meaning to change the bushings on the shifter but can't seem to do it unless the tranny is dropped...is there another way?

Thanks for any responses, I've been a long time reader here but never posted.

 

There is a recall for the pinion seal, so go to (or call) the dealer, speak to service and give them your VIN # and they should be able to tell you if it has been done or not. If it hasnt, then they will replace the seal free of charge. I would suggest to replace the axle shaft seals aswell as they are known to leak. and if you have the extra coin, while they are back there, and if you do change the axle seals, they would have to pull the axles from the diff housing, so to keep the costs down over time, have them replace the stock axles with the anti wheel hop axle kit (Gforce or Hendrix engineering).

As for the shifter, I'd recomend getting an aftermarket short shifter. I believe username azdn2max or something along those lines, makes em and sells em for a decent price.

 

First thing you need to do is top it off cuz it only holds about 20 oz of fluid.

There was a recall on several GM models with leaking diffs. This was a couple years ago so I wouldn't know where to look for a link. I guess you can google it and check to see if your VIN is in the recall. You can probably have a Caddy dealer run your VIN to see if your car qualifies for the recall.

Another thought is that it may be coming out the vent on top of the diff. This was a common problem and the dealer would simply add a vent hose. This leak started on top and usually ran down the drivers side of the diff.

Change/add fluid
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...be-change.html

RR diff
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...f-install.html

 

I just noticed this was happening to my car yesterday as well. The whole differential was replaced 3 years ago for a newer one. I did recently change the dif fluid maybe there was slightly too much and it is leaking out of the top?

 

Thanks for the help guys. I am topping of fluid after work today. That's very interesting about the pinion seal recall as well, I was not aware of that. The previous owner did say that the differential was replaced under recall but I will definitely have my VIN run at my local dealer to check.

 

Called the dealer and had them run my VIN for recall claim history. The guy said my car has had no recall claims and has never been eligible for any recalls....hmmm..

 

do some research and see if there was any recalls for the year of your cts-v. i know that 06 had the pinion seal leaking which was a recall and also something to do with the passenger side airbag.

This might help with the info regarding your year...

http://cadillacfaq.com/faq/tsb/index.php?category=2

 

I went to a different dealer yesterday (GM dealer) and they ran the vin and came back with the same result. Only recalls were a PCM reflash that had been done soon after new and the passenger side airbag thing. SO I had them price me a pinion seal...two different possibilities depending on the casting number on the pinion itself, 1 was $93 and the other $55..what a rape in the ***!!!! Starting to become disappointed with my first GM vehicle...nonetheless, I changed out the rear diff fluid, hopefully that will suffice for awhile. Rant over.

 

If you are going to do the work yourself, check with Luke at Lindsay for the parts.

 

If the rear was replaced it would be ineligible for the recall anyhow. If the rear was overfilled, it will cause the pinion and/or axle seals to leak. A pinion seal is not exactly the easiest thing to do if you have never done one before b/c the pinion bolt is what sets the bearing preload. If you crank it down too much (over what factory is) you will crush the bearings and need a new rear.

If you are going to do this yourself, you need a strong 1/2 air impact. Mark the pinion bolt to the pinion gear with paint (it needs to be a smooth line, not a blotch of paint). After you replace the seal, carefully run the pinion bolt just the slightest smidgen tighter than your initial mark. Do not pass the line, just have the line on the nut begin just to the inside of the gear mark...if that makes sense.

 

This is not correct.

The Getrag rear differential in the V1 does not have a crush sleeve in the pinion assembly like most other differentials.
The pinion bearing preload is set by a custom ground spacer that comes with the set of pinion bearings.
You torque the pinion nut to 181 lb ft of torque. The preload is already set by the size of this spacer. Pinion depth it adjusted by shimming the pinion housing in or out of the differential housing.


Also, when removing the pinion nut, the only way using the mark method is going to work is if you note the position of the mark you made on the nut when it comes off the last thread of the pinion. You then have to put it back on in the same position.
Otherwise your marks don't matter because you are starting the nut in a different position and the amount of turns to line your marks are changed.

Torque it to the correct amount and you won't have a problem.

 

There's 2 general TSBs in regards to diff leak. 1 is the seal, (which I believe is covered under warranty\ext warranty?) and the other is the vent leak, which isn't. Its a cheap priced part to replace, its something in the range of $20-30 I think.