Front Diff Seal Leaking

Well, that looks like a sh!t ton of fun. I am sorry that you are having this issue.

SCBronco1

Well, that looks like a sh!t ton of fun. I am sorry that you are having this issue.

Yeah, pretty much blows. She sits in the garage until she gets fixed. Hopefully parts are made available soon.

dirty finger

Changing my oil and I noticed this. Gear oil on the front diff. Spoke to dealer and there is no ETA for getting a new seal. Service writer asked me to check with him every coupe of weeks to see if a new seal is available. :cry:

I'm curious, shouldn't the dealership be calling you when the seal becomes available? As opposed to you having to call every few weeks?

dirty finger

Yeah, pretty much blows. She sits in the garage until she gets fixed. Hopefully parts are made available soon.

Ford at its best again. Good luck . Maybe autozone can get one for you ?

EvlNvrDys

I'm curious, shouldn't the dealership be calling you when the seal becomes available? As opposed to you having to call every few weeks?

I would think so. However he asked me to check in with him. I think it's just because they are so busy.

Bronco 202?

Ford at its best again. Good luck . Maybe autozone can get one for you ?

I tried on rock auto but they don't have a part number.

I can easily find m190 and m210 ring and pinion kits for gear swaps, and they include the pinion seal. I can't find a solo pinion seal for sale or part number anywhere.

I wonder if the pinion nut isnt torqued right

dirty finger

Changing my oil and I noticed this. Gear oil on the front diff. Spoke to dealer and there is no ETA for getting a new seal. Service writer asked me to check with him every coupe of weeks to see if a new seal is available. :cry:

I reached out to the service writer yesterday and he said that they updated the part number. Still not showing an ETA but at least they know about the problem and have made a new seal.

dirty finger

I reached out to the service writer yesterday and he said that they updated the part number. Still not showing an ETA but at least they know about the problem and have made a new seal.

Yep, I was just watching this video yesterday morning. Same issue.

dirty finger

Yeah, pretty much blows. She sits in the garage until she gets fixed. Hopefully parts are made available soon.

If it is the front diff can’t you just keep it in 2H and it won’t use the front diff, just drive with the rear.. or am I missing something

KPLOBX

If it is the front diff can’t you just keep it in 2H and it won’t use the front diff, just drive with the rear.. or am I missing something

I believe you are correct. My Bronco is for off-road use primarily and is not my daily driver. Therefore, there's no need for me to drive it. Don't get me wrong, it's the funnest of my vehicles to drive. I just don't want to inadvertently run anything low on any fluid and cause additional damage. It doesn't look like enough has leaked out to even matter. I'm sure I could go off-road with it and have no issues. I'm just extra cautious. My dad was a mechanic, he would not approve of me driving it until it's fixed. lol

KPLOBX

If it is the front diff can’t you just keep it in 2H and it won’t use the front diff, just drive with the rear.. or am I missing something

The front differential is always turning as the front hubs on the Bronco are locked, and dont electronically lock and unlock. Whether in 2H or 4 anything, the front driveshaft also is always turning. Shifting the Bronco into 4WD applies power to the front differential through the transfer case. If the oil in the front differential gets low enough, its internal bearings will suffer, and if very low, the ring and pinion as well.

I had this same issue back in February. Started 2 weeks after I took delivery. Same story as you, parts were not immediately available. It took about 3 weeks for the part to come in. In the interim, the dealer told me I could keep driving it, just to not use 4WD. I kept the driving to a minimum, but didn’t totally park it. I watched the garage floor like a hawk. Just a couple new drops each day. Once the part came in, it took about a day for them to fix it.

Have you had yours fixed yet?

tsielski

The front differential is always turning as the front hubs on the Bronco are locked, and dont electronically lock and unlock. Whether in 2H or 4 anything, the front driveshaft also is always turning. Shifting the Bronco into 4WD applies power to the front differential through the transfer case. If the oil in the front differential gets low enough, its internal bearings will suffer, and if very low, the ring and pinion as well.

What document states this?

Well, upon further review, my statement above is not entirely correct. Some Bronco's are equipped with a front axle disconnect on the M190 front axle. This is a solenoid driven connection that connects the front axles to the differential when a 4WD function is selected, and disconnects it in 2WD. On these Bronco's, only part of the differential rotates when in a 2WD mode, the ring gear and pinion do not rotate. Some Bronco's are also NOT equipped with this front axle disconnect (FAD). My Black Diamond, with the M190 front axle does NOT have the FAD. I've specifically looked for it, and it is not there.

Why Ford installed some M190 front axle Bronco's with this front axle disconnect, and others without it is a mystery. I believe anyone with the Sasquatch package has the M210 front axle without a FAD, and I think Wildtrack Bronco's also have the M210 front axle.



This chart copied from the Bronco 6G forum shows what trims have the FAD and which ones do not.
This is interesting, as Mopar, in their Dodge/Ram trucks and Jeeps did have front axle disconnects back in the 90's, and early this century eliminated them. Our 95 Wrangler did have a FAD, but our 2003 Wrangler and 2012 Wrangler did not. My 95 Dodge 2500 had a FAD, but my 2012 3500 Ram did not.

tsielski

Well, upon further review, my statement above is not entirely correct. Some Bronco's are equipped with a front axle disconnect on the M190 front axle. This is a solenoid driven connection that connects the front axles to the differential when a 4WD function is selected, and disconnects it in 2WD. On these Bronco's, only part of the differential rotates when in a 2WD mode, the ring gear and pinion do not rotate. Some Bronco's are also NOT equipped with this front axle disconnect (FAD). My Black Diamond, with the M190 front axle does NOT have the FAD. I've specifically looked for it, and it is not there.

Why Ford installed some M190 front axle Bronco's with this front axle disconnect, and others without it is a mystery. I believe anyone with the Sasquatch package has the M210 front axle without a FAD, and I think Wildtrack Bronco's also have the M210 front axle.

View attachment 43907

This chart copied from the Bronco 6G forum shows what trims have the FAD and which ones do not.
This is interesting, as Mopar, in their Dodge/Ram trucks and Jeeps did have front axle disconnects back in the 90's, and early this century eliminated them. Our 95 Wrangler did have a FAD, but our 2003 Wrangler and 2012 Wrangler did not. My 95 Dodge 2500 had a FAD, but my 2012 3500 Ram did not.

Thats very interesting. Thanks for the info.

tsielski

Well, upon further review, my statement above is not entirely correct. Some Bronco's are equipped with a front axle disconnect on the M190 front axle. This is a solenoid driven connection that connects the front axles to the differential when a 4WD function is selected, and disconnects it in 2WD. On these Bronco's, only part of the differential rotates when in a 2WD mode, the ring gear and pinion do not rotate. Some Bronco's are also NOT equipped with this front axle disconnect (FAD). My Black Diamond, with the M190 front axle does NOT have the FAD. I've specifically looked for it, and it is not there.

Why Ford installed some M190 front axle Bronco's with this front axle disconnect, and others without it is a mystery. I believe anyone with the Sasquatch package has the M210 front axle without a FAD, and I think Wildtrack Bronco's also have the M210 front axle.

View attachment 43907

This chart copied from the Bronco 6G forum shows what trims have the FAD and which ones do not.
This is interesting, as Mopar, in their Dodge/Ram trucks and Jeeps did have front axle disconnects back in the 90's, and early this century eliminated them. Our 95 Wrangler did have a FAD, but our 2003 Wrangler and 2012 Wrangler did not. My 95 Dodge 2500 had a FAD, but my 2012 3500 Ram did not.

Because I like trying to solve a good mystery, I studied the order guide and think the FAD is only in Bronco's without the Advanced 4X4 system (Bronco's with the 5-7 position the VIN# of E5A, or E5B). I think any Bronco's with the Advanced 4X4 (Bronco's with the 5-7 position the VIN# of E5C, or E5D), eliminate the FAD.

Cool. I still am unsure of the engineering logic, if there is any, behind that tho. I understand that the advanced 4x4 system gives you 4Auto, and the non-advanced 4X4 doesn't have that feature. Shifting a standard 4X4 equipped Bronco into 4WD activates the FAD, connecting the drivers side wheel to the differential. The same could happen IF FAD were installed on Bronco's equipped with the advanced 4X4 system, when one shifted into 4Auto, or any of the other 4WD settings, but Ford omitted the FAD on those Bronco's, and both wheels are connected to the differential all the time, also turning the front driveshaft, and some components inside the transfer case.
I don't think this difference was for fuel economy reasons. If fuel economy was the rationale, all Bronco's would have a FAD in search of the few tenths of an MPG keeping everything from rotating would yield.
Its just an interesting dichotomy.