oil leaking near pinion seal, 87 300D (W124).

[be459]

I have had this car for about a year, 87 300D with 94K miles (current reading). When I got the car, the differential looked wet and oily. Now, I can see light blue oil dripping near the differential after driving. I checked the oil in the differential. It was a little low and the oil was also light blue. Upon close examination, the pinion seal looked good: no oil on the surface of the seal. The whole area under the car around the pinion seal was oily. The oil seems coming from the end of the rear drive shaft (this is the shaft between the tranny and the differential) before the 3-finger which is attached to a flex disk. Is the oil coming from inside the rear drive shaft or the differential? How to fix it?

Thank you for reading.

David

[This message has been edited by be459 (edited 04-21-2000).]