Rear pinion seal

[PATRICKH]

Anyone have a ball park figure on having the seal replaced ? I think I can do the job myself, but not sure. Have most of the tools, but the seal installer and gear puller I may need to rent.

Thanks

[fallvitals]

I did it. It's really not bad, search for a long thread I posted in. You will definantly need a gear puller. I rented one from the auto store. $15 to do it yourself. Ooo, you'll also need a inch pound torque wrench, I had to buy one. So that might addto it, bur you'll have the tool forever.

Just disconnect the drive shaft, I wired mine to hang instead of removing it.test the poundage of the nut, remove the yoke with a big pipewrench and socket. Pull seal, reverse basically. With proper tools it shouldn't take but maybe more then an hour. It's not a bad job you just need to insure you don't tighten that nut down too much and crush the washers.

I might have gotten steps out of order but that's basically it.

[fallvitals]

Btw. Seal pullars are cheap, go to harbor freight if possible. For a seal installer, I bought an exhaust tube reducer for like $3 from the auto store. If you have a socket big enough that's best.

[PATRICKH]

Cool, thanks. It didn't like it was going to be that bad of a job, I knew there were some concerns on making sure I mark everything to keep it in line when I reinstall everything. And the torque on that nut had to be just right.

The tools were my main concern. You don't by chance remember how big the socket you used to remove the pinion nut was do you?

[fallvitals]

Ehhh.. Couldn't say. Iirc it was a 1/2" drive socket. So if you have a decent tool/ratchet set you'll have the right size.

If you find one of the other threads especially the one I blew up, lol, brule even posted the step by step gm manual procedure for this.

Btw, don't by a cheap gear puller. I did that and it would not do the job, then discovered the rentable tools. I do recall my nut had 0 inch pounds on it before I messed with it o_0 which it should have a few inch pounds on it.

But stock they loaded the threads up with rtv, mine was on there so bad I was worried the puller might damage the pinion end where it was pulling against it! Ignored marks, but nothing bad, or damaging.

[PATRICKH]

Ok man, thanks. Looks like I'm working on the truck AGAIN this weekend. At least Oreilly and Autozone are both within 2 miles of home if I need to make a run.

[DawnO]

Mine now has a slow leak after 160xxx miles on it. Did you have an easy time with it? Or is it worth paying a friend a few bucks to replace the seal? My cc sits a little lower than other cc's for some reason, it's a pain to crawl under.

[fallvitals]

Put it on jacks?

[killian96ss]

KD tools makes a nice beam style inch pound torque wrench which works great on rear end repairs. I've been using one for years now. If you buy an inch pound torque wrench, make sure you get the beam style and not a clicker.

Steve

[border man]

My cc sits a little lower than other cc's for some reason, it's a pain to crawl under.

Try this......

[ApproachMedium]

Ok so im not the only one with this problem, however mine went bad 6months ago was repaired and now the other day upon inspection changing my fuel pump we saw it was leaking again. Is this A common issue that these seals fail or is it my mechanic doing something wrong?

[killian96ss]

Ok so im not the only one with this problem, however mine went bad 6months ago was repaired and now the other day upon inspection changing my fuel pump we saw it was leaking again. Is this A common issue that these seals fail or is it my mechanic doing something wrong?

I don't believe its a common problem. The second failure could be a bad installation or a bad seal. It is very important to make sure the seal is fully seated on the housing so that it is parallel to the housing face or perpendicular to the pinion. If it is crooked, the seal will leak. Another step often missed by most mechanics is to put a small amount of gasket sealer on the outside of the seal before tapping it into the housing. This will help stop seepage around the seal. Also anytime you install a pinion seal, you need to be sure the pinion flange if free of any scratches or dirt that may tear up the seal. I usually use some 2000 grit or higher wet paper followed by emerged cloth to smooth out the surface. This also works on axle shafts, harmonic balancers, transmission yokes, pinion flanges, etc.

Steve

[ApproachMedium]

Thanks for the info! I guess my only fix here is to have the job done twice, now should I bring it back to the guy who originally did it and say look what happend? or bring it to someone else?

[HenryJ]

Check to see if the pinion is tight. Mine lost the shims and was loose. That could cause the seal to leak.

[killian96ss]

Does this mechanic have a good reputation where you live? I would try talking to him first and see what if anything they will do for you to fix the problem. Maybe they will fix it for free or give you a good discount. If he wants to charge you full price again, go somewhere else, and report them to the BBB. Is this something you could repair yourself?

Steve

[ApproachMedium]

Thanks for the suggestions. I can't do this myself since were not supposed to work on cars where I live however that rule gets broken for oil changes etc hah.

The mechanic is very good, most work is covered by a 1 year warranty parts and labor. This is the second time something was done once and had to be done twice though. But then again I have had them do a lot of work.... iwill have to bring it by and see what he says hopefully a correctable mistake that I won't be paying for!

[riceburnr2005]

did my pinion seal and transfer case output seals today. took about an hour and 20 bucks.

[quickbiker]

I don't trust any garages, just about every time, the so called experts will screw something up. It's an easy job. Only thing to remember is not to over tighten it after the new seal is put on, cause there is a crush sleeve, if that is overtightened, then the gear alignment will be screwed. That's the onl gotchya on that job.