Rear Pinion Seal Leak on '95 Trans Am
08-10-2006, 10:14 AM
#21
Dont forget a tiny film of RTV around the seal to housing surface. I always put just alittle around there to be safe. While its still wet, it kind of acts as a lube for the seal. Not sure of the size of the seal, but on all my jeep axles (dana 44, dana 30, chry 8.25, ford 8.8) i usually use a piece of 3" exhaust tubing. Helps drive the seal in straight without mangling the edges.
J.
J.
08-10-2006, 02:02 PM
#26
I don't know about 'yall, but I'm not sure if I'd trust getting the pinion preload back properly to where it was by simply marking the pinion nut's position and returning it there upon re-assembly. In theory it might work, but not so sure about in practice. Additionally, you may have difficulty removing the yoke from the pinion once the nut is off. Smacking the yoke or pinion in any manner in an attempt to remove the yoke is going to dislodge the crush sleeve from the bearings and any preload setting you might have had is lost forever.
The proper way to do this and be sure you've got the pinion preload set absolutely correctly, is to remove the diff and ring gear completely from the housing, remove the pinion and use that new crush sleeve they gave you in the kit upon reassembly (it was in the "kit" for a reason). When crushing the new sleeve, you'll probably have to use a powerful impact wrench, to get enough torque on that nut (or a really huge breaker bar and something equally huge to hold the yoke from turning). But once the pinion bearings contact their races, proceed VERY SLOWLY to keep from over-crushing the sleeve, or you'll have to start all over w/ a new sleeve. Measure the pinion preload w/ an in-lb beam-style torque wrench between nut torques until it is right.
I agree that the new yoke was probably not necessary unless your old one was damaged. DO buff-up the seal track on the old yoke to give the new seal a nice smooth surface w/ no grooves to seal against. True, rubber shouldn't wear hardened steel, but the mark left behind on the yoke where the seal was running is undeniable once you see it.
The proper way to do this and be sure you've got the pinion preload set absolutely correctly, is to remove the diff and ring gear completely from the housing, remove the pinion and use that new crush sleeve they gave you in the kit upon reassembly (it was in the "kit" for a reason). When crushing the new sleeve, you'll probably have to use a powerful impact wrench, to get enough torque on that nut (or a really huge breaker bar and something equally huge to hold the yoke from turning). But once the pinion bearings contact their races, proceed VERY SLOWLY to keep from over-crushing the sleeve, or you'll have to start all over w/ a new sleeve. Measure the pinion preload w/ an in-lb beam-style torque wrench between nut torques until it is right.
I agree that the new yoke was probably not necessary unless your old one was damaged. DO buff-up the seal track on the old yoke to give the new seal a nice smooth surface w/ no grooves to seal against. True, rubber shouldn't wear hardened steel, but the mark left behind on the yoke where the seal was running is undeniable once you see it.
08-10-2006, 02:14 PM
#27
I put three seals on my car this spring. Be sure to mark the nut as I forgot and did my best to get it installed properly. My car did have that extra seal on the pinion initially. But all of the replacement seals I bought need to be installed without that extra seal as it makes the OD of the pinion too large (thus blowing out my nice new seals). We finally figured this out the 3rd time and took that seal/sleeve on the pinion off the pinion. So make sure your replacement seal is sized properly to be used with that new pinion. I would think you don't need all that and just need the $5 seal from Autozone or Murrays. The 3rd time I finally took the car to a local performance shop and he only charged me $53 to replace it. $35 in labor and $14 for the Napa seal and some extra for rear diff fluid. It is a quick fix (but we had to wait for a while to get the seal from his parts distributor).
When I had my pinion and old seal out, I found a sharp edge on the housing that I filed down to smooth. I then used Blue RTV when installing the seal, and was told to put blue RTV on the splines to seal once the pinion is re-installed. Apparently they can leak through there? Mine is dripping again, so it might be through the splines as I am not sure he RTV'd them when re-installing, or that edge on my housing just just problematic.
Save your $$ if your pinion is fine. My seal/sleeve on the pinion was scoured, but we took that off for the replacement seal anyway. I wouldn't put too much money into this rear. Save your $$ towards a better aftermarket rear that will not leak and will handle any power you throw at it.
When I had my pinion and old seal out, I found a sharp edge on the housing that I filed down to smooth. I then used Blue RTV when installing the seal, and was told to put blue RTV on the splines to seal once the pinion is re-installed. Apparently they can leak through there? Mine is dripping again, so it might be through the splines as I am not sure he RTV'd them when re-installing, or that edge on my housing just just problematic.
Save your $$ if your pinion is fine. My seal/sleeve on the pinion was scoured, but we took that off for the replacement seal anyway. I wouldn't put too much money into this rear. Save your $$ towards a better aftermarket rear that will not leak and will handle any power you throw at it.
08-10-2006, 02:32 PM
#28
Originally Posted by JohnnyBs98WS6Rag
I don't know about 'yall, but I'm not sure if I'd trust getting the pinion preload back properly to where it was by simply marking the pinion nut's position and returning it there upon re-assembly. In theory it might work, but not so sure about in practice. Additionally, you may have difficulty removing the yoke from the pinion once the nut is off. Smacking the yoke or pinion in any manner in an attempt to remove the yoke is going to dislodge the crush sleeve from the bearings and any preload setting you might have had is lost forever.
The proper way to do this and be sure you've got the pinion preload set absolutely correctly, is to remove the diff and ring gear completely from the housing, remove the pinion and use that new crush sleeve they gave you in the kit upon reassembly (it was in the "kit" for a reason). When crushing the new sleeve, you'll probably have to use a powerful impact wrench, to get enough torque on that nut (or a really huge breaker bar and something equally huge to hold the yoke from turning). But once the pinion bearings contact their races, proceed VERY SLOWLY to keep from over-crushing the sleeve, or you'll have to start all over w/ a new sleeve. Measure the pinion preload w/ an in-lb beam-style torque wrench between nut torques until it is right.
I agree that the new yoke was probably not necessary unless your old one was damaged. DO buff-up the seal track on the old yoke to give the new seal a nice smooth surface w/ no grooves to seal against. True, rubber shouldn't wear hardened steel, but the mark left behind on the yoke where the seal was running is undeniable once you see it.
The proper way to do this and be sure you've got the pinion preload set absolutely correctly, is to remove the diff and ring gear completely from the housing, remove the pinion and use that new crush sleeve they gave you in the kit upon reassembly (it was in the "kit" for a reason). When crushing the new sleeve, you'll probably have to use a powerful impact wrench, to get enough torque on that nut (or a really huge breaker bar and something equally huge to hold the yoke from turning). But once the pinion bearings contact their races, proceed VERY SLOWLY to keep from over-crushing the sleeve, or you'll have to start all over w/ a new sleeve. Measure the pinion preload w/ an in-lb beam-style torque wrench between nut torques until it is right.
I agree that the new yoke was probably not necessary unless your old one was damaged. DO buff-up the seal track on the old yoke to give the new seal a nice smooth surface w/ no grooves to seal against. True, rubber shouldn't wear hardened steel, but the mark left behind on the yoke where the seal was running is undeniable once you see it.
I agree with this wholeheartedly, but some people are just going to replace the seal without taking the whole rear apart...so I am trying to aid them as well.
