Changed pinion seal, got a question.
Changed pinion seal, got a question. So my old pinion seal was dripping onto the ground near the front of the diff, and spraying a ring of oil all over the underneath of the car. I changed it out, drove about 20 miles or so with no leaking thus far. But what worries me is that the old seal looks good, there is no visible damage that would lead me to believe that it would fail. Is this usually the case? What does a bad seal look like?
Originally Posted by 1999Z28
As long as you marked the pinion nut and retightened to the same spot without over crushing the crush sleeve, you'll be fine.
I didn't see any springs inside the whole. I've never actually done any work on a rear end before. I marked what I thought at the time was the yoke, but it turned out to be the washer 
I about had a stroke when I saw the mark I made move. I tightened it down to where the mark should have been. I'm confident that I got it EXACTLY in the same place it came off. So far, I don't hear any additional whinning from the rear end.
I about had a stroke when I saw the mark I made move. I tightened it down to where the mark should have been. I'm confident that I got it EXACTLY in the same place it came off. So far, I don't hear any additional whinning from the rear end. if you look at the back of a new pinion seal there is a spring that wraps around the seal in the groove of the rubber. It acts like a rubber band applying pressure to the seal where it contacts the pinion. If that spring breaks it will leak. Most times they leak because the wear out. Make sure to put grease on any new seal where it makes contact on the pinion and it will be less prone to premature wear
