dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

well i had my car on the lift yesterday and noticed my rear pinion seal was leaking(right where my driveshaft connects to the rear, behind the yoke). I got a new seal and some gear oil and asked two guys about how to go about swapping it out. One said just unattach the driveshaft, take the nut holding the yoke off, slide the yoke out and replace the seal. The other guy said I'd have to take my rear apart and do it that way. If it's the first one, I can do it no problem, but i'm not going to take my rear apart because it probably wont go back together right
If anyboy's replaced one of these seals before, please let me know, thanks!

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

I did mine recently.
Usually I do take the whole rear apart, it's a good time to inspect everything.
But the main reason is to install a new crush collar which some say is mandatory after you take the pinion nut off.

But, you can do it just as well without taking it apart, just dont crush the crush collar any more. And don't mis-judge the torque and stop before the yoke touches the crush collar.

Before you start take a good paint marker and mark the nut, the pinion, and the yoke (when you clean everything make sure you don't wash the marks off, mark it so the yoke goes on the pinion in the same place, and mark it so the nut ends up on the pinion at near the same tightness.)

Don't hammer the yoke off, it can damage the bearings. I used to do this all the time but the later model cars have a sealant on the yoke splines. It's best to use a two or three leg puller.

Once you get it all out, new seal installed, everything degreased and prepped.
Put some sealant on the splines to prevent oil seepage, put some red loctite on the threads so it doesn't come loose.

Be careful tightening it up, the nut gets tight but you need to go further, when it hits the crush collar it gets real tight, thats when your marks should be close and you stop.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

ok cool. i might as well rent a 3 jaw puller and get a new crush collar before i get started. did you get yours from the dealership? and what do you torque the nut to?

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

If you replace the crush collar you need to disassemble the whole rear to get to it.

There is no torque value for it, it takes close to 300 foot pounds to start crushing, you just keep tightening the nut, crushing the collar, until you have the correct pinion bearing preload. Preload is measured with a dial type inch pound torque wrench. Preload is the amount of torque it takes to turn the pinion.

I always get the crush collars at one chain of stores only in FL that have the Motormite Help parts. I'm sure other places have it.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

oh ok. i wont worry about the crush collar then. so i gues just mark it and tighten it down until it's back to the mark

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

Yes, it will work.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

ok, thanks a lot for the help man! i never would have thought to mark the nut.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

well i changed it today and rode to town and got some brake cleaner. i sprayed it all over the rear and looked at it when i got home and i had a drip of oil in the same place. could i have gotten a bad seal from the parts store?

spaz1

iTrader: (9)

i,ve changed mine 2 times they don't seem to last or the torque arm must distort the housing. But maybe your yoke is grooved. you can get a speedi collar if it is or get another yoke.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

what is a speedi collar? i've never heard of those. if that doesn't work, i might just put some lucas stop leak in there and let it ride.

jetlag

iTrader: (32)

I had my pinion seal replaced and the shop didn't fully disassemble the rear. So when they tightened the pinion bolt back up they crushed the crush sleeve...even though they had a mark that showed where to stop the pinion nut.

It didn't leak anymore! But the bearings were toast..hah

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

I can tell you exactly what went wrong.
In 2002 GM used a different seal.

They put something similiar to a speedi collar on the yoke, and used a housing seal with a larger inside diameter.

I did the one on my 2002 a few years ago and at the time no one knew what the hell was going on. Evey single parts supplier store, you name it I tried them, they all listed the old style seal for the 2002 f-body when it clearly was the wrong seal (kind of)

GM wanted $40+ for it, so I said screw that.

All you need to do is take the seal part off the yoke. It pops right off with two screw drivers.
What you end up with is a yoke with a nice fresh finish on it, the same outside diameter as all other f-body yokes back to 1982.

So remove the seal part from the yoke, get a seal for say a 2000 camaro.
And redo it.

I used to have pics of this, I really hope you understand what I'm talking about.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

i think i know what your talking about. there was a hard rubber washer type thing inbetween the yoke nut and the yoke. so leave that off and put a seal from a 2000 car in it?

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

No, this thing slides on the yoke. Then when you put the yoke on, the housing seal rides on this sleeve instead of the yoke.

What happened in your case (by the sounds of it) is the same thing that happened to my 2002. They gave me an old style seal with a smaller ID.
I put it together and with the larger OD of the sleeve on the yoke it tore the rubber out of the seal.

Now when you remove this sleeve and put the yoke back on, the seal rides on the spot that this sleeve was at and it's a perfect fit.

Not sure if I'm explaining it right.

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

Here is a link with pics. You either need to go to GM to get the seal. Or remove the sleeve on the yoke and install an early seal, 2001 and earlier. Everyone stocks the early seal, from what I've found only GM has the newer seal.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/gears-axl...al-2002-a.html

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

ohhhh, so that explains why the new seal had a smaller OD. the ID was the same so i figured it didn't matter. would you happen to know the part number of the seal i need? thanks a lot, man.

dutinsss

iTrader: (2)

well i got the seal from the dearership and put it in and 2 days later, it is bone dry under my car with no leaks! thanks a lot for the info 9000th01ss, you are now my hero.

if i didn't loose the bag the new seal came in, i'll post up the part #. it should really be added to a sticky for other people with "02 cars.

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

Glad to hear it worked out.
LOL

Intercooler2

iTrader: (24)

In the ones I have seen/done you have a rotational value spec that has to be met with an empty housing. That means rolling everything out so all you have is the pinion in there. You start the pinion nut and when it starts to crush you put an inch pounds torque wrench on the nut set at this value. Torque the nut a pinch more and check again. When you finally hit that spec and the torque wrench breaks you stop. Most are 10-16 inch pounds rotational. I have seen people including a guy I work with that has used a shop where they do it by "feel" or just run the nut down. Above way is the only way to preload it right.

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

It really doesn't matter how you do it. Final preload is final preload.

You reuse the crush collar, tighten the nut down and read a correct preload, it's going to be ok.

Plus from what I've experienced preload is over rated. Luckily I do have a dial type torque wrench. I've set preload 10 to 15 inch pounds on the tight side and never had a problem.
I do think it's a bit off topic in this thread, especially since the OP got his problem fixed, no need to bring more worry into his seal replacement.