I got a call from the dealer today informing me that I have a differential leak that should be fixed ASAP. The price tag for this repair is about $10 for the new seal and about $900 for labor !!!

I'm really surprised to have such a major repair on this car. It has 47,000 miles on it and it's 10 month out of warranty. Nice timing. The dealer wouldn't pitch in a penny for this repair, they said that 10 month out of warranty istoo long for them to do anything for me.

Has anyone else had this problem with their RL? The service tech told me that this is a common problem on these cars.

 

Have you tied an independent shop? I paid 150 to have two seals replaced in my 4x4. Shop around. Replaceing a seal is no big deal.

 

Hi dwest1023,
Yes, I've talked with one independent mechanic and he didn't want to touch it.
I'm told that replacinf this seal is not easy. They need to remove drivers side half axle, engine mount just to remove differential to replace the seal. I've had a couple of mechanics tall me that it takes at least 8 or 9 hours of labor to get this done.

 

Wow! Hindsight(extended warranty). I guess you can't avoid that expensive repair. If the differential gets dry it could be worse. Have you tried a junk yard to see if you can get the whole differential. That might be cheaper, but then you would have to pay labor to have it intalled. This is a tough one and I am surprised this would happen so soon. It took 19 years for my truck to start leaking at the seals. Then again that was when Toyota;s were bullet prove. Its an 84 and still going strong.

 

ask the service manager for a one time goodwill consideration from Acura. If you have done all the services and been a good customer, and not have had a TON of warranty work done in the past. Also, if the service manager says they wont consider.....then call Acura customer relations....bet they offer some assistance! they may offer to do it all. IN EXCHANGE..... TELL THEM YOU'LL GIVE THEM AN EXCELENT SURVEY. (just make sure you give them an "excellent"..even if everthing isn't perfect).

 

I got my 1997's differential seal fixed for under 150 bucks. Its identical to your RL's. So shop around.

 

Had vehicle in for a Oil change and transmission drain & fill. And the tech mentioned that the differential seal was seeping. He suggested to change by next oil change @ cost of about $400 including part and labor.

Just wanted to check if anyone else recent had to do this and what was the cost.

 

Thts ironic i got this done today. Its an axle shaft oil seal located right on the outside of the differential where the axle connects. My mechanic charged me $64. After seeing this install i conclude this is a DIY. There is no balljoint removal necessary if you got a bit of muscle.

He first removed the two self locking nuts under the hood freeing up the uper control arm from the body of the car.

Next he removed the upper caliper bracket. and disconnected all the speed sensor and brake line.

He then removed the spindle nut which screws on the axle.

Moved the knuckle while pushing the axle to free up one side of the axle. Then pulled it out from the differential.

He showed me the old seal I could see where the leak was coming from.

He put a bit of grease on the inside of the seal and a bit of silicone on the outside and pushed it in and assembled in the reverse order of disassembly.

I suggest you purchase the seal from the dealer yourself. If you cant DIY Go to a local mechanic and approach them differently and say you just need a axle shaft seal replaced they should not charge you much at all. If you are in the Toronto area i could even get you the link.

 

^^^ Thanks for the input

As for update on my part... I went to the local mechanic who hosted the car and showed me there was minimal seepage. He changed the differential oil and asked to see if I see a puddle of oil under the car then bring it back... if not then all is good. So far I haven't seen anything signs of oil leak so I am not worrying for the moment.