Leaking Bevel gear, what to do?

[wgriswold]

For several years I have been watching what was a slow seepage from the Bevel gear that had deposited a thin film on the bottom of the gear. No oil was dripping onto the wind cover. Yesterday I changed the oil and discovered that the seepage had increased. Here is a picture of the bottom of the gear.

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4363&d=1344971053

Here is a picture of what had dripped onto the cover.

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4365&d=1344971073

I made a dipstick out of a paper clip and measured the oil in the gear and it was about 1" below the fill hole. I added about 20 ml and now it is about 1/2" below the fill hole.

My questions are is this past the watch and add stage and is once a year enough to check it? I remember that others have made a paper clip dip stick and wonder how far down from the fill hole is proper?

The turbo is also leaking and some of the material on the wind cover is probably coming from there. Here is a picture.

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4364&d=1344971063

I mention that here as a partial cause of the oil and dirt on the cover. I will ask about that in another thread.

Thanks for your advice.

[XC70XC]

My indie Volvo specialist mentions that no repairs can be done to the existing bevel gear. There is no gasket to replace so to speak. It is designed to be replaced as a whole.
Last check shows mine looking pretty good with very minor leak compared to newer ones in the service bay where they have similar signs if not more worse to yours.
Maybe I am wrong but that's what I have been told.

[wgriswold]

I believe that I have read, on this site, that it can be resealed. It apparently takes a knowledgeable tech who has to file something down as part of the repair. If the filing is not done then leaks in the future are certain. ON the other hand, my memory has failed before.

My question is when is the leak bad enough to need fixing?

[billr99]

If this was mine and IF it had been a while since I looked at it, i.e. oil change interval (or once a year); I think I would power wash the housing and get it clean and dry. Drive it for a couple of weeks and have another look to see just how bad things are first before dropping the thing and having it re-sealed. I think I'd also recommend filling it according to the book first as well to make sure that it was not over-filled. These things seem to puke any excess out the breather pretty readily if they are not filled properly. Try and save yourself a tonne of work and hassle by trying some easy, cheap things first. If those fail, then you are probably into a reseal if you judge it to be enough to hassle with that job.

Good luck,

Bill