I have a 98 wolverine and my rear seal is leaking on the left side. Any one ever change one? How much is a new seal and how hard is it to change and just one more thing what type of oil does the diff use Thanks

 

Only question that I can answer here is the gear oil weight. Owners manual on my 95 Wolverine states 80W or 80W-90. Should be the same on yours. Don't waste your money on a high dollar gear oil. While I like to stick to Yamaha factory products gear oil is gear oil. Go to Wal Mart and pick it up. If their is a mechanic out there that disagrees with me feel free to express yourself and let us all know why. Good luck in finding someone to help you with the rest of your problem.

HunterJody
95 Wolverine

 

You need to check to see if the axle is bent or at least find out why the left side is leaking. I just replaced the seals in my 99 Wolverine because the axle was bent and wore on the seals. Check your bearings the one on the left side was a pain in the a$$ to get out because I did not have the proper tool to do it with. I would ask the dealer what they used to get the ones out of the left side and invest in that tool if you plan on keeping the your Wolverine for a while it took me 2 hours to get it out. If you have water or moisture in the rear end I would either repack the bearing if they are good or buy new ones. You can take the seals off of the bearing if you are very careful and repack them. But go ahead and buy new seals I think for the both of them it was $12 to $15 I believe it was $8 for the left and $4 for the right side and the bearings where $22 dollars a piece. Even when if you buy new bearings take the seals out and put more grease in the bearing because Yamaha does not pack them very full.

 

Wolv...
There ate TWO seals there.. One is just an axle bearing seal, the other is inside the differential housing that actually seals the hypoid gear oil inside the case. If you have gear oil leaking, it usually means that its time for the bearings and seals to ALL be replaced..
Its not difficult, just pull the brake assembly from the right rear, slide the axle out the left side, pull the aluminum differential housing, disassembly it, replace the ring gear bearings and the two seals in there, re-install it after cleaning everything thoroughly, Slide the axle back in with the new bearings for it, and new seals... put the brakes back together, fill it with oil, EXTEND the VENT TUBE on the Differential... and you are good to go..
There should be a total of 4 bearings.. 2 inside the differential for supporting the ring gear, and two axle bearings.
There are two more bearings and one more seal inside the differential housing, they seal and support the pinion gear. More than likely they are fine and shouldn't require replacement.
Ive done MANY of these bearing replacements on Yamahas... its not hard to do and you can save yourself a TON of money by doing it yourself.

Oh BTW.. JC.. by left axle bearing, you mean the one just inside the aluminum differential housing.. its recessed up inside the housing with a seal ontop of it?... If you pull the exle, and take a wooden mop handle, broom handle 3/4" dowel rod.. anything... slide it in from the right side (brake side) and to where it just ALMOST is at the bearing, then put the 90 degree end (or hooked end) of a nailbar or prybar in behind the bearing and infront of the wooden rod... You will find that you have a secure place to hit that will drive the bearing out... just more it on one side, then position the nailbar 180 degrees around the bearing.. and hit on it there.. This way, you walk the bearing out evenly..
Or atleast thats how I do it...