Hi,

I have a 1986 Camaro V6/5-speed. I have a blown axle seal I need to replace this weekend. I have the seal but my manual has not arrived yet to provide instruction.

Do I need to remove the rear cover on the diff to pull the axle shaft? The rear end has 10-bolts on the cover if that makes a difference.

Also, what is the recommended gear lube for the diff?

Thanks!

Frank

 

Take rear cover off...

Take the bottom bolts out of cover and losen up top ones, put pan under cover, pry between cover and rear end lighty with a screw driver, to let all the fluid gush out.

Then take cover rest of the way off.

Turn drive shaft (rear wheels of the ground) till you see the small bolt on the side of the carrier (thing in center)

Use a 5/16" 6 POINT only box end wrench to take bolt out with.

Once bolt is pulled all the way out, pull the big center rod out (cross pin or cross shaft.

hit/push each tire in towards the center.

The C clips will come loosae or fall out, grab them (1 on each side) and if your only changing 1 seal then you only need to push that wheel in wards and remove that axle's c clip.

Now just pull the axle straight out (from the out side tire side)

You can **** the axle alittle to the side and pry the seal out with the end of it, or use a pry bar, hammer claw, etc

Wipe inside the hosing tube end good with a clean rag.

Put alittle RTV silicon sealer on the outside back of the new seal.

Put seal in straight by hand. It will only go alittle ways.

Now get you a nice thick cuunk of wood. I use a pc. of 4 x 4 thats just alittle bigger than the seal.

Lay the board flat against the outside front of seal, and with a bih hammer wack the hell out of it. Nice hard as you can hit. Dont try to just tap it in place, bet the hell out of the board, till seal is nice and even with the end of the tube.

Now wipe some clean gear oil on the rubber lip of the seal.

Slide axle in, lift the splines over the rubber lip, dont drag the shaft along the rubber.

Once it's in as far it will go , reach up in the carrier and put the C clip back in the groove on the end of the axle.

Now Pull out hard anginst the axle from the out side (tire side)

Put the cross pin back in the hole in the center, and put the bolt back in useing your 5/16" 6 point box end wrench

Scrap/wipe the place on rear where the cover fits.

Put your new gasket up along with your cover and puts.

Look on the pas. side above tube, There will be a plug with a square 3/8" hole in it. Take that plug out with a 3/8" drive rachet or impact.

Put your gear oil in there, till it runs out of that hole (2-2.5 qt.)

As far as gear oil use 75 W 90 or 80 W 90. I like red line myself.

If you have a posi rear dont forget you need a bottle or 2 of posi lube

 

Thanks!

 

The axle seal install went smoothly thanks to the instructions. It looks like the seal had been done recently. I found corrosion on the axle shaft where the seal rides. I think last time the seal was done it didn't last too long. I cleaned up the corrosion with scotch brite and a little wire brushing. I polished it a bit afterwards. I suspect the axle needs to be replaced or sleeved but for now I'll just keep an eye on it.

Frank

 

Drat,

As I feared the seal is leaking again. I guess I do need a new axle. I remember once upon a time you could have axles sleeved to save them when the seal surface went bad. I expect it is a whole lot easier and cheaper just to go down to the wrecking yard and get another one but if anyone has any recent experience on seal surface repair on an axle let me know.

Frank

 

Frank,

I just replaced my axles with Moser 26spline axles. I had the flanges drilled for lightness for and extra $30 and it was still only $298 for the pair shipped to my doorstep.

I checked on a stock replacement and GM wanted $130 ea. The Mosers have very little runout compared to the GM ones which is great because I run fixed rear calipers brake setup with an internal drum parkingbrake. I replaced my axles because onwe of them had a very slightly bent flange but was enough to make a pulse moan noise as the pads spread in the caliper on takeoff until about three revolutions- thought at first I had a warped rotor but it turned out to be a bent axle (Only 1/4" warp all the way out at the rim bead when the rim was mounted on the axle, but it was enough to make the noise)

Dean

 

Dean,

Neat set up. Maybe some day. For now i'm trying to be conservative, this was supposed to be my cheap commuter but already shipwrights disease is sneaking in. I'm in the midst of a total rear brake and rear end seal renew job (including pinion seal) which started out as a simple axel seal replacement. Now that I'm into this job for ~$100 I kind of regret passing on a disk brake rear end a few weeks ago, the guy was only asking $125.

I got a used axel shaft from the local bone yard. It is out of an '88 and it had no evidence of seal leakage. It looks OK on the sealing surface although there is some wear. I'll probably take some emery and then crokas cloth to it before installing.

Thanks for the info!

Frank