ok so i jacked my car up to look and try to remove the tranny and fix my clutch (another problem ) and there is puddles of gear oil on my floor and a very bad leak from my pinion. what is my first step. i guess there is some sort of gasket there that needs to be replaced? how do i go about doing that?

 

there's a seal not a gasket. this should be your first move

 

ok ede ive searched and know i need to mark how far the nut for the yokle goes on correct? oil the seal before installation, and get a new nut.
but just a few more questions....
to get the driveshaft off the ujoint and the ujoint off the yoke? do i unbolt the "caps" that go around the u joint ends?

one more thing, i saw you mention the special "tool" needed for this job...what does that consist of and why is it needed?

 

you don't need to remove the u joint from the DS you do need to remove the DS, just unbolt the 4 bolts from the yoke. you need the "special tool" to hold the pinion yoke. mine is a piece of .25x3x40" MS drileld 4 holes for the bolts and used a hole saw to make a hole for the socket to fit in. mine has a couple sets of holes for differant rear ends. painted red with a richmond sticker on it.

 

well after a little trial and error last night at 2:30 am i figured the ujoint doesnt need to come off and the driveshaft can be removed easily...all the posts i read of everyone saying you need to hold the yoke it never registered because no one ever said you need to keep it from spinning, but thats just because i guess im not too smart. i got the yoke off and as we speak am going to head up to autozone and pick up a new seal and seal puller. plus some gear oil and trans fluid (lost it all!!!)

my driveshaft has some weights like its been balanced before is it possible it might need it again? i get a horrible HORRIBLE vibration at almost 80 mph, mu girlfriend was holding the dashpad so i didnt fly off!!!

EDIT: btw ede, i used a piece of wood to hold my yoke (cant do too much metal work at 2 am. but i am slightly concerned because i took my nut off with just my 1/2 ratchet, it wasent too tight at all. and as far as my yoke, i just pulled it out by hand with almost no resistance. are these bad signs???

 

Make sure the pinion bearing is okay too. Loosing all that fluid could have cooked it. It should turn smoothly by hand with no chunkiness.

 

i keep reading about this pinion bearing but i dont know exactly what it is. any help?

 

I see you have already removed the yoke so you can inspect the bearing that should easilly come out of the rear now. Be sure to replace the crush sleeve with a new one as this is what holds pre load on the bearings. Try to think of a front rotor its practically the same bearing set up.

 

ok i need tips on how to ACTUALLY get the seal out!!! everything is ready but i cant get the seal out at all. do i need a seal puller or is there another methd i can use. any tips? that thing wont budge and i cant really get a good hold on it.

 

If you don't have a seal puller then an old ( or one you don't care about ) wood chisel works pretty good to get in between to seal and housing by tapping it with a hammer. Once you create a little space you can pry it out pretty easily.

 

finally got it out, hopefully i got the pinion nut back on correctly...

now i jut have to fill my damn tranny, what a PITA!!!

 

one thing that hasnet been mentioned is that the nut MUST be torqured down to the correct specs. If not then it will leak and you will destroy the bearing and seal. as for the torque spec..I have no clue. You will have to check the repair manual on that one, It is listed in the beginning of the chapter.

Oh and guess what. 90% of all rears leak there. I havent seen a 10 bolt that didnt leak gear oil there. Mine leaks a little bit but nothing like some of these other guys where there torque arm is covered in it

 

The torque on the nut is irrelevant. It takes a minimum of 140lbs' just to spin the sucker. The bearings are set up just like a front wheel bearing. All you are trying to do is set some preload on them. If you are reusing old bearings then the preload should be 8 to 14 inch pounds. You measure this by spinning the pinion with a inch pound torque wrench. Just take your time and ease up on it taking torque readings frequently but do not ever loosen the nut or you will have to get a new crush sleeve and start again as its the crush sleeve that retains the pre load.

 

well i might have really screwed something up.....i marked my nut and pinion so i could take it to the exact same spot however when installing the nut it got near impossible to get it back to the same spot. so the nut is about 1/2 a turn looser than before. but i is tighter than when i took it off, well see as i pretty much have to learn from my mistakes. now another quick ?, whats the best way to fill my damn tranny. i was going to fill it through the shifter but is there a better way?

 

A syringe is good but a good BYS fix ( back yard special ) is to use a piece of 3/8" fuel line or equivalent hose and drill a hole in the cap of your desired lube the exact OD of the hose and snake the hose through the hole down to the bottom of the bottle. Cut the bottom of the hose on a slight angle and place the other end of the hose in the trans then squeeze the lube up in there. You may only be able to squeeze up half a jug or so at a time but keep filling it and it will go quick.

Did you put on a new crush sleeve?

 

nope. i read quite a bit on it and i never saw where i needed a new crush sleeve unless the old one was fried