LR3 Axel Seal Leak?
 

Im new to this forum, but have been a LR3 owner since may of 2013. I recently took my LR3 in to get a service, only to find out I had a Transmission leak at the Transmission pan and bulk head seal. About $1600 later I picked the LR3 up. In the invoice, it stated my axel seals had leaks. Does any one know what the cost of this fix may be? Also how long can I go with out getting this fixed. Im guessing It may be a small leak because Land Rover let me leave with out stressing a immediate fix on this. Thanks for any help ?

I depends on where they are leaking. and how bad. Where are the leaking?

Axel seal leak
 

Not sure exactly where they are leaking, not bad enough to notice fluid on ground.

If it's not leaking badly, you won't notice fluid on the ground. I assume they mean the axle seal where each halfshaft (axle) bolts to the differential... so essentially, you're losing a small amount of differential fluid. The question is, are you leaking from the front or rear and which side are you leaking from. While you may not be able to see anything on the ground, if you're leaking at all, you should see a bunch of crud (oil that has collected dirt/grime/etc.) around the affected area. Just crawl under the truck and see if you can find a bunch of crud on one side of the rear diff. If not, move to the front and look for the same thing.
Hopefully, you're only leaking from one area. As far as cost, I really have no idea, but I just replaced the seals on my Audi myself and it was not fun nor easy. And to top it all off, it still leaks... worse than before :( I guess what I'm saying is that despite the cost, but you probably want the shop to do it (especially considering that the procedure for replacing the axle seal in the LR manual requires 8 specialty LR tools). Oh, and sooner is probably better because I'm sure the axle seal replacement is much cheaper than a differential replacement if you lose too much fluid. :P

Front differential or rear differential?
 

If the leak is from the front differential, before you do anything, I would change out the existing differential breather cap. It may be that the leak is more a question of pressure not releasing from within the differential and hence relieving itself thru a seal.

That is probably a bit theoretical now as no doubt the seal will now have to be replaced however if the breather is plugged, then the problem will occur again.

Below is a link to thirty dollar fix plus one of the files is a four page pdf showing the inside of the front diff and explaining how it operates.

You are discovering what I call the high cost of education and the quicker you learn, the less the total investment will be.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - Breather Cap Front Differential installation

A little late, but if anyone else runs into this thread. My right/rear axle seal is leaking. My non-dealer LR mechanic quoted me $280. Said it's only a $25 part, but 2.5 hours of labor....

That sounds about right for r&r of the cv axle which is basicly what you are doing

x2 on clearing the breathers my back diff was bad, leaking from pinion seal, fluid contaminated and whining

I cleared the breather, changed fluid and the seal leak stopped, I have since changed the diff but......

Tom, do you have a procedure for clearing the rear breather? Can you get to it w/o removing the fuel tank?

Yup, jack up truck , blocks under frame, if you lay under the diff with feet under rear bumper, the drive shaft in your face, you can reach up on top of the diff and just unplug it, blow air into line and remove fill plug blow air into diff to be sure the port for line is clear

Iirc the breather line is on top of diff pass side, and the breather cap end of that line is up by the gas tank fill, been a while since I messed with that end

Hardest part is jacking up this heavy beast unless you want to hit off road height and trust it while you squeeze under

No thanks! I've been under there a few times, even with jackstands, and when it starts to do an EAS exhaust or other adjustment, it's scary! I move QUICK in those instances. Anyway, my diff is new so this isn't something I need to think about soon but still good to know; thanks.