Hi there. Fluid is leaking from where the driveshaft goes into my rear diff. I'm assuming that this means my pinion seal is shot. Is this a difficult job? The garage I use doesn't want to do it as they can't guarantee it won't leak afterwards. Currently I have to add a little fluid every 1k miles, but if changing the seal isn't difficult then I'll go ahead and do it.
If anyone has done this and can offer advice I would appreciate hearing it.
Thanks.
Will
Before you do this job you want to check the pinion shaft for excessive side play. If there is excessive side play then the bearing preload must be adjusted and this makes it a more difficult and involved job. Many times the seal goes bad by itself, but many times also it is just a symptom of a problem with the bearings.
That said it is not a real bad job if you follow the instructions in a good service manual. You might need a puller to get the yoke off the pinion shaft, and some other special tools. If you are clever you can fabricate these yourself. Many people like to use a hammer to get the yoke off, but in my opinion this is a bad idea as you can damage the bearings or even the ring and pinion with this method. A "Five Star" Dodge dealer did this to a van that I owned and later wound up replacing the ring and pinion, carrier bearings, etc. at their cost.
Earle
This didn't happen because they took the yoke off with a hammer. It happened because when they put the flange back on they tightened it too much, crushed the crush sleeve beyond limits and increased the preload on the pinion bearings. They probably had to replace the carrier bearings and gears because they were damaged by all the metal floating around in there that came off the pinion bearings that came apart.
-- Old Crow '82 Shovelhead FLT 92" 'Pearl' '95 Jeep YJ Rio Grande ASE Certified Master Auto Tech + L1 TOMKAT, BS#133, SENS, MAMBM
Well of course this is impossible to determine but the chips on the ring gear looked like the primary locus of damage to me.
Earle
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