HELP! Rear pinion seal replacement problem
#1
HELP! Rear pinion seal replacement problem
So I tried replacing my rear pinion seal toady and I think something went wrong. I went to PepBoys and got a seal, part #15315. It was much smaller than the OEM one on my car but it wouldn’t fit into the slot it was suppose to fit into. I figured when I screwed the nut down on the pinion it would shove it in place but I don’t think it did.
In my picture you can see the orange seal is visible. It should be tucked into the housing and not visible right?
So right now the pinion nut is back to its original position where I marked it and oil is dripping out of the seal and I didn’t even refill the rear end yet! I hope the crunch sleeve is not crunched and more. Any advice for me????
In my picture you can see the orange seal is visible. It should be tucked into the housing and not visible right?
So right now the pinion nut is back to its original position where I marked it and oil is dripping out of the seal and I didn’t even refill the rear end yet! I hope the crunch sleeve is not crunched and more. Any advice for me????
#3
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with you having a 2002 you need the second design seal. I hunted high and low and the only place that had one was the dealership. They started in 01 changing over to the second design so its kinda hit and miss on exactly which cars got it and which didnt as i have seen 01s especially go either way. The seal does need to be tapped in but possibly you tried and it was just too big??
#4
Thanks for the information about the 2002 model seals. I did try tapping it in but it still seemed too big and plus you would think cranking down on the pinion nut would have drove it in. That’s what scares me though, do you think I messed the crunch sleeve up when I tightened the pinion nut back to it’s original position with the seal not all the way in?
01ssreda4, here is a picture of the two. The one of the left came out of my car and the one on the right is the one I just bought. So the ones for the 98-01 will absolutely not fit the 2002 cars?
01ssreda4, here is a picture of the two. The one of the left came out of my car and the one on the right is the one I just bought. So the ones for the 98-01 will absolutely not fit the 2002 cars?
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from my understanding around 01 is the transitional period. My 01 had the new style 2nd design. A buddys 01 had the old 1st design, but his also has 853 heads which are known from 98-00, so his may be an early production model from 01. Yours should be the redesign. Call the dealership close to you and tell them you need the 2nd design, I believe they have one listed as a 2 piece and the other a 3 piece design.
Last edited by 01ssreda4; 07-12-2009 at 10:02 PM.
#6
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That seal you got is the early design. It does fit in the housing but will never fit the pinion yoke. The inner diamater fo the seal is larger on the late style. It also looks like you did not tap the seal in. You will be needing a new seal from the dealer and a new crush sleeve.
Jeff
Jeff
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#8
Thanks so much for the help guys. I took the seal back to PepBoys to return it and told them the issue. The guy looked up the one I was returning and it wasn’t even listed on the computer for my 02 T/A! So the idiot that sold it to me must have typed in 2000 or something instead of 2002. The one that came up on the computer though said it was on special order so I just took the refund and will go to the GM dealership to get a new one.
Last question: I ended up putting it all back together with the stock leaking seal just so I could dive my car to work for the rest of the week. I marked the d-shaft and yoke when I tore it apart the first time but my marking got rubbed off. I test drove it and everything sounds like it did before I took it apart. What should I look for if the d-shaft was the opposite way in the yoke? A vibration?
Last question: I ended up putting it all back together with the stock leaking seal just so I could dive my car to work for the rest of the week. I marked the d-shaft and yoke when I tore it apart the first time but my marking got rubbed off. I test drove it and everything sounds like it did before I took it apart. What should I look for if the d-shaft was the opposite way in the yoke? A vibration?
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yeah but its about the inner diameter. Thats whats important as JAWS has already stated. They will look almost identical but it should fit snug the way its supposed to.
I dont understand why e81 and JAWS are suggesting a new crush sleeve. My 450 ft/pd impact gun wont compress one. It takes a 200lb buddy on a 3 ft pipe on one side with me having a 2 foot breaker bar to get them to crush (ratech crush sleeve btw). Im sure he didnt mess it up. Add to that he prolly doesnt have the inch/pounds beam style torque wrench needed to properly tighten it anyway.
I dont understand why e81 and JAWS are suggesting a new crush sleeve. My 450 ft/pd impact gun wont compress one. It takes a 200lb buddy on a 3 ft pipe on one side with me having a 2 foot breaker bar to get them to crush (ratech crush sleeve btw). Im sure he didnt mess it up. Add to that he prolly doesnt have the inch/pounds beam style torque wrench needed to properly tighten it anyway.
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I had this exact same problem on my '02 WS6. I tried 2 different seals before getting a GM seal from the dealership. The seal WILL be pretty hard to get in (think mallet + block of wood), but it didn't leak a drop once it was in there.
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I have a funny story about this...
I bought a Motive install kit for when I had 3.73s put in the old 10 bolt.. Apparently, the Motive seal is the old version. I get the gears install, drive around for awhile, then park the car. 20 minutes later I look under the car and all the fluid is on the ground. So, I fill it up and drive 2 miles away to the nearest automotive shop. They change the seal for me, everything is good! A couple days later the noise coming from the rearend is horrible. I take the rearend out and take it to another shop to just have them fix it... Apparently the 2nd shop crushed the crush sleeve too much and that wrecked havoc on the bearings.
So, 3 installs later and $900 wasted on a 10-bolt I now have a Moser 9".
Moral of the story: Don't put any money into the 10 bolt. hah
I bought a Motive install kit for when I had 3.73s put in the old 10 bolt.. Apparently, the Motive seal is the old version. I get the gears install, drive around for awhile, then park the car. 20 minutes later I look under the car and all the fluid is on the ground. So, I fill it up and drive 2 miles away to the nearest automotive shop. They change the seal for me, everything is good! A couple days later the noise coming from the rearend is horrible. I take the rearend out and take it to another shop to just have them fix it... Apparently the 2nd shop crushed the crush sleeve too much and that wrecked havoc on the bearings.
So, 3 installs later and $900 wasted on a 10-bolt I now have a Moser 9".
Moral of the story: Don't put any money into the 10 bolt. hah