Xoutpost.com - Replacement of front axel twice

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Attacking Mid (Post 1171074)

I'm confused too. If your diff was way low on fluid, then you have a leak there - either the input shaft seal on the back, the output seal on the left, or that oring you originally suspected is leaking. There's also a seal on the passenger side where the right axle attaches, but that's not where it's leaking apparently.

Based on this latest info, it sounds like diff fluid is leaking when the engine tips to the left (which is shouldn't!) That brings me back to that oring that you originally suspected.

I haven't done it on an E53, but on my E83, it's possible to remove the front diff without dropping the subframe. I'd be doing that to inspect that oring for damage.

The fact it's not leaking after replacing the motor mount means nothing.

AM.

Thank you for your reply
There is no way you can’t avoid dropping the subframe when you are dealing with anything connected to the x5 oil pan
On the X5 to anyone need to work on doing the work the driverside got short shaft that goes into front diff and does not go into the oil pan however the front diff passenger side has an extended small shaft that has a sleeve and o ring that attach to the oil pan. The driver side got long shaft that goes through the oil pan and connected to the other side to the front diff.
The cam showed the leak coming from the small shaft on the front diff driver side that has the sleeves and the o ring
“In my case” when I was moving around trying to see how the leak coming out the leak stopped.
The car had over 135,000 miles and believe somewhat I did over pulled the engine up the first time I worked on the shaft while the shaft still connected or I damaged the morning by trying to lower the engine. The reason for that I had very hard time lowering the engine to the mount and at the end I had to remove them totally and installing them to the engine then lowering the engine to the frame. After few pushing with my portable pressure tube I managed to install the mount to the frame
In my case as I stated my kids play hard with the cars and they don’t tell me in details what they did and I can’t say for sure why the leak stopped I’ll leave it as is thanking everyone for their extremely appreciated inputs and questions god bless

If you remove the inner bolt from the lateral control arm, you can swing the hub assy's enough to disengage the front axles from the diff. You don't have to remove them completely. Then disconnect the front driveshaft, remove 4 bolts, and the diff can be lowered to the ground (this again is on the X3, but the X5 is built VERY similarly).

Best of luck to you.

AM.

Interesting thread. I am very curious as to why replacing engine mounts fixes a leak because the mounts are there to support the engine and have rubber in them to prevent vibration but not to block oil from leaking.

It is almost like saying that if you have a sealed bottle with liquid inside and the bottle leaks a little bit when tilted, but if you leave it in a perfectly level surface it does not leak. That would mean that the bottle is not actually sealed and there's a hole/crack in the bottle that the liquid is able to reach when the bottle is tilted...

In other words, for the X5, this sounds to me like a broken seal/pipe or cracked metal somewhere that is only exposed when the engine is in a particular position.

I suggest we all move on and not worry about it....The show is over folks..OP was never quite clear on what was leaking or why it leaked...or even how he stopped the leak for that matter...