Diff Pinion Seal
 

Here we go...I recently got into an accident wit my 8. I hit the driver side rear corner. Apparently it seems that the impact shifted my Diff enough to make the Diff input shaft/pinion shaft seal start to leak. Mazda claims that it is a 7hr job, because the reapair manual says that they should pull the whole Diff and then change the seal. :Wconfused

I was wondering if anyone knew if you absolutely needed to pull the entire Diff. If not, I would be super relieved, because $900 bucks in labor for a $10 seal just BITES the BIG ONE....The guys at Rick's Rotary (My trusted local Rotary Shop) said that they may not have to pull the entire thing. I guess, the Diff pitches downward a little after the power-train support is removed and they maybe able to replace it that way.

Or I was thinking of trying to take it to a Mazda and play dumb...."I dont know what happened....it just started leaking"...lol dont know if the would fall for that one.....:uhh:

HELP!!!!!!:SHOCKED:

If theres no visual sign of impac it might work, but If you go at the dealer you play by their rules, if the manual says 7h, 7h it is, even if the tech know the trick to do it in less time, their charging you 7h. I'm an Advisor and thats just how it is.

Thanks for answering first of all.... :)
The dealer didnt say 7hrs, my local shop did. The guy there also said if its faster or easier they wouldnt charge me for 7hrs work. 7hrs I guess is whatever the computer told him when he pulled it or whatever.