The Camaro is having issues… I started a thread awhile back cause my pinion seal was leaking on the Camaro's diff. My wife has been driving the Camaro for a while now with it like this... I would check the fluid every once and awhile and it was always almost full. As you know the rear end was always whining loud whenever the gas was let off and you would coast in gear (automatic).

Well it has gotten really loud and there is kind of a jerky feeling in the rear so I pulled the coil just to make sure it wasn't drivin again...

Now its on jack stands and I am trying to figure out what the problem is... so far I have

1. The diff cover off
2. Fluid drained and it was fine
3. Pulled off the drum assembly and noticed that the brake components on the pass. Side were all wet with gear oil I am assuming
4. Pulled out the axles and they look fine
5. Took driveshaft off

Now I don’t know where to look… if its whining only when the gas is let off I have always been told that the pinion bearing is bad when this happens. It would make sense since the pinion seal was leaky. Now I guess my next step is getting the nut off the yolk and I don’t know the best way to get it off… should I go ahead and just replace all the bearings… axle, carrier, and pinion bearing? I would think so since I have her all apart and I can’t pinpoint which bearings are really ‘bad’… any help is appreciated.

Thanks guys…

 

On the drum issue with all the gear lube all over them. Did you look at the axel seal to see if it has a hole or crack in it? Or it could be a loos connection on the drum, bad brake line. Never had drums so I don't know how they connect with the brake lines.
Since you have the Axel's out you might want to go ahead and change the bearings and seals (assuming your car has high millage). You will need a slide hammer to get the bearing out.

As for the whining, eyeball the ring & pinion just to make sure you don't have a abnormal wear pattern. If all looks good I'd replace every bearing that looks Pitted or burnt (Blue'sh color).

The Pinion nut will come off with a Impact or a long brake over bar. Should be a 1 1/4 socket.

When you get in there to replace the bearings, you will notice that the bearing races are (I'm assuming pressed in), just reuse them. Don't even bother with taking them out unless there Pitted or Burnt. Once again you will need a slide hammer for this.

Another thing you might want to look at is the Yoke. It could have a very small worp in it or could have a very very small groove, were the seal rides the Yoke at. I replaced the tranny Yoke because of the groove issue and it cleared up the leak I was haveing.

If you pull the ring & pinion to replace the bearings, make sure when reinstalling the Pinion you have no play (grabe the Yoke once tightened down and try to walble it. If it has play keep tightening until there is no play (just don't over tighten it). Once you have no play, spin the Yoke, it should have some resistance (not to easy but not to hard). You may want to get another crush sleeve just in case. If you never have rebuilt a rear, go ahead and get a crush sleeve and use it instead of the one that came out. Now, put the ring back in with the origanal carrier shims you took out. Once in there, it should not just pull right back out with ease. It needs to be tight but not were you need a pry bar to get it out. Now check your backlash, used gears (you have) I've been told to set around around .010.
If you can't get the backlash to around .010, you will need to get a Carrier Shim kit. I'm not sure if auto parts stores carry them, but more than likely they do.

Hope any of this jabbering helps.

 

Thanks man... yeah I think its got 150K+ miles on it. I just figured since there was already a leak at the pinion seal I just assumed that since there was a whine when you let off the gas that those two symptoms lead to a usual bad pinion bearing. I just need to get it fixed pretty soon. It been on stands for about a week now...