[PhillT]

I was not aware that Suzuki stuffed up on early diffs and re-positioned the front diff filling plug on later models.

For those who don't know here is the info. I hope mine was done properly by previous owners and not too much damage is done.

[royce]

so not enough oil makes the seal leak oil???

so the solution is to put more oil in it

another reason for free wheeling hubs, there is no need for all that stuff to be spinning all the time

[atari4x4]

i've got the calmini kit in my vitara & when doing diff oils I always jack it up front or rear, because the front diff is dropped on the diff drop brackets & the rear has had the pinion rotated.

+ I also installed free wheeling hubs.

[PhillT]

royce wrote:

so not enough oil makes the seal leak oil???

so the solution is to put more oil in it

another reason for free wheeling hubs, there is no need for all that stuff to be spinning all the time

Yep, I fitted FWH to mine, but it had over 150,000Km on it already by previous owner who hardly ever used 4wd which is the problem.

And Yep. not enough oil to lubricate the seal = stuffed seal.
Raise the oil level so oil is in the axle housing all the time = piss poor solution.

[royce]

if the only problem is the seal dieing I wouldnt worry, they got torn up by mud and grit anyway

[PhillT]

royce wrote:

if the only problem is the seal dieing I wouldnt worry, they got torn up by mud and grit anyway

Unfortunately, it is said the seal is only the first thing to go. Because the axles are turning, the side bearings in the diff are running dry, albeit with no load.