Leaking Front Axle?!!

[yippeekiyay]

2021 Badsquatch, not even 100 miles yet, noticed small 2-3" wet spots on the shop floor but dismissed as from my son's Volvo for a couple days until I saw at work as well, checked under there and crap, leaking. Fluid *was* clear on the floor and when I checked yesterday, this morning I go to take a photo and it is *milky*, WTF?! That's new, and not at all worrying (PTSD flashbacks to my 89 Ranger engine oil after head gasket went)

Not entirely clear in the photo (passenger side btw, nothing on driver's) but definitely not coming from the axle boot, this is the axle seal (not a xfer case, right? still figuring out the layout).

No way to check fluid quick and easy that I've found so far, and this was supposed to be my drive it and don't touch it rig, pretty irked my 24 yr old Land Cruiser with 150k miles has no leaks and my brand new Bronco does, any chance this is just the seals settling in or something? (never had a new truck before)

Thoughts on why it appears milky now? Haven't been through anything deeper than a puddle, heck only used 4wd couple minutes playing with modes on a rough gravel road, think it was Baja...

Advice/suggestions/things to tighten or try or test before I resign myself to bringing it to the dealer?

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[BudgetBronco]

Minor bummer. Don't mess with it, take it in for warranty repair.

Milky means mixed with with water and maybe salt too IMO. Post back and let us know how it goes please.

 

[BigBend1]

2021 Badsquatch, not even 100 miles yet, noticed small 2-3" wet spots on the shop floor but dismissed as from my son's Volvo for a couple days until I saw at work as well, checked under there and crap, leaking. Fluid *was* clear on the floor and when I checked yesterday, this morning I go to take a photo and it is *milky*, WTF?! That's new, and not at all worrying (PTSD flashbacks to my 89 Ranger engine oil after head gasket went)

Not entirely clear in the photo (passenger side btw, nothing on driver's) but definitely not coming from the axle boot, this is the axle seal (not a xfer case, right? still figuring out the layout).

No way to check fluid quick and easy that I've found so far, and this was supposed to be my drive it and don't touch it rig, pretty irked my 24 yr old Land Cruiser with 150k miles has no leaks and my brand new Bronco does, any chance this is just the seals settling in or something? (never had a new truck before)

Thoughts on why it appears milky now? Haven't been through anything deeper than a puddle, heck only used 4wd couple minutes playing with modes on a rough gravel road, think it was Baja...

Advice/suggestions/things to tighten or try or test before I resign myself to bringing it to the dealer?

Follow this thread, sounds like the same issue possibly

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/no-4x4-from-the-factory.33670/

 

[yippeekiyay]

Thanks @BigBend1, following.
Will keep this thread alive if it proves to be something else (plz plz plz). I wiped it all down and drove it, leak was clear, then drove some more was milky again and no puddles to explain it. so dropped at the dealer yesterday, I had my Bronco for exactly one week. Sigh.

Worst part is it might be 2-3 WEEKS before they can look at it, and that is the expedited time since it is brand new, other people are waiting 2-3 months right now. Then how long does it take to get part.... I guess silver lining is more time to order accessories, right?

 

[DrSquatch]

@yippeekiyay Any update yet?

 

[rrknapp]

@yippeekiyay Any update yet?

My wife got hers back and this is what was hiding inside the boot. Axle was never seated inside the outer joint. Ours did not have circlip installed and didn't give a clue until the first time I attempted 4x4 on gravel parking pad. Dealership declined the warranty and blamed it on 35" tires and 2" rough country spacer lift. Waiting to hear from Ford Corporate. They will know, with all the replacements across the country, there is an issue. How many CV axles were manufactured without circlipls and which axles were affected.

 

[da_jokker]

Yep, I was going to say. Hopefully this is because it wasn't fully seated and not that it pulls itself out and strips during articulation.

 

[yippeekiyay]

@yippeekiyay Any update yet?

Nope. Dealer is down to 2 master techs, and one of them is out with COVID, so they still haven't even looked at it to see what the problem is. Service is extremely apologetic so hard to be mad at them, but really freaking sucks to not even know what needs to be fixed let alone how long that will take to get the parts...

 

[yippeekiyay]

@yippeekiyay Any update yet?

UDPATE> after almost 3 weeks of being patient every time I'm told "they're doing their best to look at it) I went down with a little more irritation (and having called another Ford dealer an hour away that *could* look at my truck the next week so I had a backup plan) and lo and behold they got it right in and looked at it the next day and concluded, wait for it, the seal needs to be replaced.

Sigh.

Part is on national backorder and expected to be *manufactured* Feb 28, so earliest I am getting it fixed is first week March. We talked it through and as the leak does not seem to be spraying while driving (or at least, very little) and is only minor puddle (1-2") every night, I took it away, drive it about 70 miles, came back and they checked fluid level and was maaaaybe down a hair. Will not check in a week, top off as needed, rinse repeat until the leak gets bigger (I check every day) or the seal gets here. Oh, and definitely no 4x4 until fixed as unknown what that would do to the leak rate.

So I have my bronco back which is good, and a path to resolution which is good, just still pretty frustrating and definitely confidence-damaging in how reliable it will be over time. Very glad I ponied up (pun intended) for the extended warranty, which being a first model and me already having 3 other projects vehicles felt like I deserved one ride that I didn't have to keep running.

Oh and I saw a little confusion elsewhere about whether our front axles rotate in 2wd or not, answer is very much yes.

 

[DrSquatch]

Glad you got it back and hope you can get it fixed soon without parts delays.

I thought the front diff must be spinning even when 4WD was not engaged thanks for the clarification on this.

 

[TigerBG87]

Follow this thread, sounds like the same issue possibly

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/no-4x4-from-the-factory.33670/

My photo of my leaking font axle seal is just like your photo. Have less than 400mi. Right at 1 week. Boot on back order until the 2/11, now the 2/22. Was told leak severe enough and not to drive. There are few dealer locations that have the part but not letting them go to other dealers. Will be making first loan payment with no Bronco.

 

[brimoore476]

Wow, looks like I am not the only one with a leaking front axle. Glad I found this thread.

I picked up my Bronco on 1/31. About a week later, I started noticing a few drips of liquid under the front passenger side. It was greenish in color, so at first I thought it might be coolant. But it seemed to too thick and oily for that.

After about a week of ongoing drips (2-3 spots each day, 1-3” in diameter), I took it back to the Ford dealership. They investigated and eventually figured out I have a leaky seal on my front axle. Similar to the other folks on this thread, the parts are on back order until at least 2/28. They told me I could keep driving it until then but I should avoid “long trips and off-roading”.

So, right now I’m waiting for the parts to arrive. I honestly don’t know how much I should actually drive the Bronco in the meantime. Looks like the front differential holds about a quart of fluid. I cleaned everything off today and drove it about 6 miles. Once I got home, I already had a decent sized drip on the underside of the axle. So I think I’m going to keep the driving to a minimum.

Have to admit this is disappointing after waiting as long as I did to finally get it.

 

[wetdog]

Sorry guys that sucks.

 

[UtahBrandon]

Only advice I can give is that you better add some oil to that Land Rover.

 

[schadenforduh]

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