Pinion Seal Replacement: Is this all I need to Know?

[94-302-vert]

Is replacing the pinion seal as easy as:

1. remove DS
2. remove Pinion Nut
3. remove Yoke
4. remove and replace pinion seal
5. replace yoke
6. replace nut (with red loctite), torque to 100+ lbft
7. replace DS

Planning to also change the fluid while I am at it.

Am I missing anything?

I am not too worried about the gears as they have been getting pretty loud on the highway.

Thanks!!!

 

[Bosko5.0]

Personally I would get the tracloc out make sure to keep the spacers/races on the side they came off, Then inspect the bearings. Then pop the pinion out and check that bearing. replace seal then put back together but make sure you tap on the back of the pinion to reseat the bearings and torq to spec.......


Or I guess you can do it your way,

But make a mark on the pinion and nut.

Then take off the flange.

Pop off the old seal with a screwdriver evenly.

Oil new seal tap evenly into place.

Install pinion flange.

Then Nut, torq to spec, make sure the marks line up.

And then ds.


On a side note you should really be safe with gears that make noise. I put around 5,000 miles on my gears and they make alot of noise(chatter) when I turn. I won't go more than 30 miles from my house its that bad.

So I already have new gears and bearings ready to install.

 

[jd4x426]

i would replace the bearing on the pinion and carrier also it might help with your noise issue also im not positive but i know on my f150s 8.8 it had a crush sleave and once you take that pinion nut off you should replace the crush but thats just me you could do it the way that you said just be sure to mark it and torque it like bosko 5.0 said

 

[94-302-vert]

Thanks guys.

The gears were installed bad 70k miles ago so at this point I am not too worried about the gears more jsut trying to keep the fluid in the diff and of my garage floor for another 10k miles.

 

[Itkix]

This might help I havent tried it but need to replace mine to.

Rear Pinion Seal Replacement. - Mainstreamtopics - Your General Forum

 

[revhead347]

Sometimes you have to beat that damn pinion gear out of the driveshaft with a flange. Which means you have to pull the carrier out. That's the only problem I see with your method.

Kurt

 

[94-302-vert]

Well the R&R for the seal went fine....

But once the pinion nut was re-snugged (it was loose but had already been tightened 2 times) the pinion did not rotate at all. So I pulled it all back apart (from the front) and changed the crush collar, re-ovalized the pinion nut and put it all back together...

Now my gears whine on deceleration so I thing I need to go back and put some more on the pinion nut. Any thoughts?

 

[jd4x426]

you have to torque that pinion nut not sure what the torque is on these cars but on my f150 that hads an 8.8 it was 225ftlbs

 

[final5-0]

You gotta tighten that crush collar enough to distort it

It really takes a lot of effort to do it :Word:

I don't have all the details

I only posted to tell you .......

Stop driving or you will ... if you haven't already ...
hose up your gears to the point ...
they will NEVER run quiet again

Get the facts and specs
and
Do the job like it needs to be done

Grady

 

[94-302-vert]

You gotta tighten that crush collar enough to distort it

It really takes a lot of effort to do it :Word:

I don't have all the details

I only posted to tell you .......

Stop driving or you will ... if you haven't already ...
hose up your gears to the point ...
they will NEVER run quiet again

Get the facts and specs
and
Do the job like it needs to be done

Grady

Well I do know how much bearing preload should be on them and I put it to the low end of spec before taking it for a drive. I only drove about a mile so it'll be parked till I can put some more in.

Unfortuantely since it was really loose to begin with i was not able to measure then re-set the rotational torque as needed...

If the gears are noisy I am honestly OK with that... As long as I can get another 10-12k out of them as I want to swap to 4.10's over the winter next year...

 

[95LiterGT]

If you put a new crush collar in you are going to have to remove axles and carrier to get the proper pre-load on the pinion bearings. The only torque you should be concerned with is the torque it takes to rotate the pinion gear, 8-14 inch pounds for old bearings, 16-29 in/lbs. for new bearings. The torque it takes to crush the crush collar (tightening the pinion nut) will be above 140 foot lbs. and this will set your tension on the pinion bearings. 140 foot pounds is not really important other than to let you know it takes a lot of force to crush the collar. The torque value of 8-14 in/lb. is the measurement of what it takes to rotate the pinion gear with no load on it, meaning no resistence/drag from the ring gear/carrier, axles, brakes, wheels. As was already mentioned, make sure you tap the pinion gear with a hammer as you torque to seat the bearings.

If you are already aware of this thats great, from reading this thread it sounds like you might have too much torque on your pinion gear/bearings.
Good Luck.

 

[RIO5.0]

What he said...I read you didnt set the preload correctly... Lord only knows how much preload is on that bad boy....

 

[94-302-vert]

Actually I just got back from my test drive. When I drove it the other day it must have seated something as it was loose as heck today. I kept torquing until my rotational torque was about 10 in-lb and took it for a drive and all is well now.

You can get a rotational torque with the ring gear (& carrier) in place it is jsut much harder to do that...

Thanks Guys.

 

[revhead347]

I always just hit that nut with the impact wrench until it stops turning. Never had a problem. That nut is suposed to be torqued a lot.

Kurt