Pinion Seal was replaced 5 weeks ago with the transmission seal. Now I have a noise coming from the rear I think. It gets louder as the cars wheels turn faster and stops when you come to a stop. Is this normal? Kind of hard to describe the noise.

 

No it's not normal. They probably didn't get the preload right when they put it back together and now you'll be replacing the pinion bearings.

 

Just so I will be educated before I take it back. How do you determine the preload and what exactly does that mean. I see in the manual where you have to check the torque and mark everything to line back up. I just want to know more before I take it back. Since I still have a leak up front I think they got into to big of a hurry. This time I hope to have more knowledge and I hope I don't have to end up paying for the bearings to be replaced.

Thanks.

 

Preload is measured with a rotating torque wrench (different than a regular torque wrench, it has a little dial that indicates the amount of torque as you turn the part).

The pinion is held tight in the rear end by that nut. It has two bearings on it, front and rear, that fit into two races. Now - the pinion has to stay tight enough to not flop around, but if it is too tight, the bearings are pinched too tightly against the races and fail prematurely. Make sense? So you are looking for that recommended amount of preload on the bearings so that it is setup correctly - no slop, yet not too tight.

 

That makes sense. I saw that dial in the manual. You better explained it to me though. You know alot about this. Thanks for your help!!

I also noticed when you come to a stop it makes a clunk noise and when you shift the transmission it makes a metal hitting metal sound.

 

i belive it should take 20 inch pounds to turn the pinion when it is preloaded right

 

Well they say the pinion bearings are the noise I hear and they will charge 5 hours labor to change the pinion bearings-carrier bearings. He said they mark where the pinion is in relation but he really didn't say if they check preload with the dial. He talked about using a torque wrench to tighten until it stops. I guess it they do the thing wrong and the bearings go out again they will have to fix it if it is within the 1 year warranty. Does 5 hours sound right? Hopefully they say they won't find anymore damage from this when they tear it apart.

 

I'm having the exact same problem you are having . The person that did the install really did nothing and I wasn't educated enough at the time to know the difference. Now I really need to take up to Fbodycentral in MD but I'm told the car may not make the 1 hour drive

 

Tell him to take his 5 hours and shove it up his ***... Someone from Memphis HELP THIS GIRL! She's getting bent over left and right. THEY MESSED IT UP, THEY SHOULD FIX IT!

Call your local Attorney Generals Office and the Better Business Bureau. Or, you can wait a week (don't drive the car), and I'll come take care of it for you. This is REDICOLOUS

 

My car made some noise this spring. I went through 3 pinion seals this spring. The preload was wrong on one of those as it made noise when I test drove it. Heard the noise, notices it was still dripping, and took it in the next morning. Only drove it a few miles as I did not want to screw anything up. Mine made noise when the pinion was still too loose. When we took it apart at a local shop here, there was too much wiggle in the pinion so it was not tightened enough in my case. Good luck. As I said I went through 3 seals this spring and still have a drip. I believe a 9" is in my future. That should solve the leaky pinion once and for all!!!

 

I had to go ahead and get it fixed because I have to go out of town this weekend. One of the bearing was chipped off and he replaced both pinion bearings. It ended up being like 3 hours labor and was 500.00 with parts. I have a year warranty so hopefully the problem is fixed. There is still a little noise on deceleration but it may be normal. The mechanic drove it after he was done too. It may be a normal noise but I don't remember hearing it when I got the car. Maybe it was there. I am paranoid about everything now because I was going through a nightmare with another one of my vehicles that no one can seem to fix and then this car which I bought because my other vehicle was not getting fixed and I had to have a daily driver to get to work.

 

Like I said before... what is it with mechanics in TN? My best friend's G/F has nothing but headaches from her Chevy dealer there

 

Is she is memphis?

 

sorry my friend but dont go to chevy dealer places anymore its not a coincidence that most of people have problems with them. I went there once and not going back EVER

 

Where do you go if you can't trust a GM certified mechanic? I thought they were suppose to have the best equipment and knowledge. When I call GM to complain about having this work done they won't help me if I don't use a GM dealer. Hopefully besides my other vehicle not being fixed I hope I won't need a mechanic.

 

I work on my cars at home. But GM will cover some warranties but only if the car has stock parts and VERY expensive compared to other small garages. To get an Idea, they ask for $400 just to change the spark plugs, and other places $150. The time I really got mad at them was because somebody saw the nitrous bottle on the trunk and said that whatever happened was not going to be covered by the warranty before even heard what I was going to ask. Very picky, takes too long to get something fixed there, people thinks that you race your car and thats why it breaks, and more nasty things that made me not going to the dealer anymore.
My advice is to find an honest place, a small garage where they are not going to lie to you and not expensive. Its tough to find one though but I did find one and now I only go there for things that I cant do at home, most when I need a lift or when I dont have the right tools.

 

Yeah...that's why I said I would be willing to help you out if you were able to wait... going down there in a few days...

 

I made my trip out of town with no problems. I will be listening every once in awhile though just to make sure everything is okay.

Thanks for the offer of helping me out!!

 

Cool...good luck. I finally just got mine all back together....