My car is relativly spot free when it comes to leaks except where oil is leaking from the rear pinion seal. The rear of my undercarriage is nasty from all the oil being thrown around from the driveshaft.

I would like to take care of this problem myself. I have looked through a repair manual and it advises on using a special tool to remove the yoke. Unfortunatly this tool cost an arm and a leg to buy and is only usful for removing driveshaft yokes. I'm thinking a pulley puller might work but I'm not sure. I would hate to get involved in the repair and find out that I don't have the right tools.

Have any of you guys replaced a pinion seal before. If so what tools were used. Also can i use a hammer to lightly tap the new seal in place or would I be better off getting a seal driver?

Mark

 

I made my "special tool" from a 3' piece of 1/8" x 1" steel strip stock from Home Depot. I drilled 2 holes in it so I could bolt it to the yoke with the U-joint bolts, but I drilled them near one edge so that they didn't block getting a socket on the nut.

Your biggest issue will be getting the nut back to the right tightness; you are supposed to tighten it so that it crushes the crush sleeve just right to get the correct bearing preload, which is very difficult to do with the carrier still in the housing. The correct preload is 10 inch-pounds of torque to turn the pinion in its bearings with no carrier.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Yes a pulley puller will work just as well, even a tap with a hammer and block of wood usually works to remove the yolk. I've installed many seals with just a hammer, just have to be careful. The post above describes a tool used to hold the yolk from turning while removing and installing the nut.

 

If I were to mark the location of the nut prior to removal, say with a punch. Would I be able to reinstall it with the correct amount of preload by lining up the marks?

Mark

 

basically yes you can match up the marks and it'll work, i usually add a little more. i measure the depth the pinion nut sets on the pinion with a depth rod on a caliper and match mark it too. my " special tool" is similar to RB's except it's a piece of 4"x1/4" x 45" steel. i transferd the holes from the yoke to it drilled them out to 15/64" and then used a hole saw t omake a hole in the middle for a socket, mine has bolt patterns for 7.5 10 bolts and 12 bolts. spray painted it red and stuck a richmond gear decal on it and it looks professional. as for gettign the yoke off tapping it with a hammer works just fine, holding the yoke is the hard part.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd
MM Black Diamond 538 F&AM

 

Hey ede,
I was under the impression that the yoke was pressed onto the spline shaft and that I would need a puller to take it off. Correct me if I'm wrong but are you saying that it just slides off with a few taps of a hammer?
Also what do you mean that the hard part is holding onto the yoke, is this because of it's weight?

Mark

 

I overhauled the rear in my cherokee this weekend so this stuff is fresh in my mind! The yoke should pretty much come off by hand, maybe a few taps w/ a hammer like ede said. Setting the pinion preload is tricky but not that bad. If you're just replacing the seal, take a torque wrench & measure the amount of drag torque (in inch pounds) it takes to turn the yoke. Remember this #. When you reinstall the yoke, you want to torque to this #, plus 5 or so more Inch pounds. If you're installing new bearings too, the magic # is about 25 Inch pounds. Remember though, this is not just torquing the yoke to these specs but actually the amount of torque it takes to rotate the pinion. The yoke should be moveable by hand but have enough resistance that it doesn't spin freely. For best results, use a dial torque wrench or needle torque wrench instead of the clicking kind. They're more accurate & easier for this type of job. Ideally you'd want to use a drag torque wrench which measures the rotating resistance but you can fake it w/ a regular one. Best of luck!

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'91 Z28 1LE; 355, Sportsman II heads, Edelbrock TPI w/ 58mm TB, Tremec TKO 5-speed, 3.73's & much, much more

[This message has been edited by Ed1LE (edited November 28, 2001).]