The drivers side of my rear axle is covered in what seems to be diff fluid (dirty and yellowish, oily smell) coming from the differential side of the axel. Is this a serious thing? Obviously I don't want it to run dry, so I'm gonna take it in tomorrow.

 

theres a service bulletin on it for coming from the 'rattle cap vent' on the axle.

 

I had the same problem, and assumed it was the rattle cap issue - according to my local Ford dealer (so, take this with a grain of salt), mine ended up not being the rattle cap, but that the diff was overfilled from the factory.

They removed about a 1/4 cup of fluid from the diff and my axle has been clean ever since

 

Yeah I just found that TSB. Sounds like a pretty ****ty fix to me... Essentially take it off, clean it, then reinstall with Teflon tape. We'll see what they say when I take it in I suppose!

 

It's Ford's anti-rust answer to the unpainted rear housing complaints.

 

 

EZ fix at the dealer. Call them in advance, they need to order a part for the TSB. They pun in a new vent and cleaned everything up real nice. Dry ever since.