Pinion Seal Replacement

[BrandonH13]

I am going to try and tackle this hopefully this weekend.
I know I will need:
some kind of pulley puller
12mm wrench/socket
a new seal and pinion nut
3 quarts fluid
in torque wrench
1 1/8 or 1 1/16 socket

I know you take off the drive line and marks the bolts and then take off the flange and everything. I have been reading and it looks like there is 2 "ways" to find the pre-load.
Some people lift the rear wheels and take them off. Then take the in torque wrench and see how much it takes to spin the rear a couple times.
I have also seen where people just mark the nut and count how many times they make a rotation and then put it back on to this amount.

Which one of this is more "accurate" I dont think I could "crush" the old or new washer if it needs something like 100-400 ft/lbs.
Also I see some people use impacts and others don't also. Any reason for this?

 

[imp]

I am going to try and tackle this hopefully this weekend.
I know I will need:
some kind of pulley puller
12mm wrench/socket
a new seal and pinion nut
3 quarts fluid
in torque wrench
1 1/8 or 1 1/16 socket

I know you take off the drive line and marks the bolts and then take off the flange and everything. I have been reading and it looks like there is 2 "ways" to find the pre-load.
Some people lift the rear wheels and take them off. Then take the in torque wrench and see how much it takes to spin the rear a couple times.
I have also seen where people just mark the nut and count how many times they make a rotation and then put it back on to this amount.

Which one of this is more "accurate" I dont think I could "crush" the old or new washer if it needs something like 100-400 ft/lbs.
Also I see some people use impacts and others don't also. Any reason for this?

You're on the right track! First, it's the REAR correct? Second, you are replacing ONLY the pinion seal, no bearings. IMO, it is BEST to measure the torque needed to rotate the pinion, using a socket of correct size on the nut, BEFORE loosening it!!, with rear wheels removed. You need not "spin" it around: the "breakaway" torque (that needed to get it turning) may be higher than reading while it turns; you want the latter reading. Then go ahead and impact the nut loose & off, pull off the companion (U-Joint) flange, and remove the old seal. Install the new seal, the companion flange, and snug the nut down, do not use an impact. When the nut feels "bottomed", measure the torque to rotate pinion; it should be less than originally. Tighten the nut to at least 50 Ft. Lbs, check torque again. If still low, tighten more: if you reach a nut tightness of much over 100 ft-lbs, and the torque measured to turn the pinion is still much lower than originally, you will need to install a new "crush washer", which involves taking the mess apart again.

We are assuming here that the seal was NOT leaking due to bad bearings allowing the pinion to wobble around; THAT would have caused lots of gear noise! If you HAD noise, you have additional problems beyond a failed seal. Remember that the turning torque you measured INCLUDES that required to rotate the differential's guts, axles, and drag caused by brake pads, so your reading may not be anywhere near the "pinion bearing preload" called out by Ford (which is measured with ONLY the pinion turning).

Ask questions if not clear. Good luck! imp

 

[BrandonH13]

Yes it is the rear. I have the "whine" when your around 65 mph when on the gas...then you let off and it goes away. I thought I read that its just something you have to live with unless you want to buy a new rear end.

Anyways, yes we are just going to do the seal is all.
So measure how much torque to get the nut moving and then retighten to that torque after we reinstall the new seal? If we get above 100 ft lbs and its still not to that torque then install a new sleeve.
Its it like 400 ft lbs to "crush" the sleeve?

Also I will need a new pinion nut correct because its a one time use?

 

[renegade1]

id go ahead and replace the sleeve... its a cheap part and if preload isnt right then the bearings will mess up over time and that noise is ANNOYING when the bearings go out. trust me, just fixed the rear diff last week

to "crush" the sleeve take a piece of steel long enough to go from the companion flange to the frame, drill two holes in one end that will allow it to bolt to the flange, then rest the other end against the frame. this will hold the pinion from moving while you get a break bar and throw your weight (feet pushing against a tire or frame rail or something) into tightening that bolt. it actually is easy if you set everything up right and the bar holding the flange makes it ALOt easier

sorry i dont have any pics...
but goodluck!

 

[BrandonH13]

Would it matter that the explorer has about 152000 miles on it? Should I replace the sleeve because of that?

I would rather not replace the sleeve if I didn't have to as I don't know how to get it out or anything like that. I don't have anything but regular hand tools either and will be doing it in my garage

 

[renegade1]

I would rather not replace the sleeve if I didn't have to as I don't know how to get it out or anything like that. I don't have anything but regular hand tools either and will be doing it in my garage

dont think the miles on it matters much - and some will say replace every time and others say reuse without any issue. ive heard both sides on this forum. its $4 at napa so id try and replace it (and if for some reason you cant crush it you can always just reause the old one then)
you CAN get to the sleeve with the flange and seel removed so it would be easy to do
- but one tip i read on here you may want to try is to crush the sleave to 1/8 of an inch longer than the one you take off using a vice (im assuming you have a workbench mounted vice?) then it makes crushing that last little bit easier!

when i replaced the bearings on my pinion(both bearings... so pulling diff apart, resetting backlash, etc) i did it in my garage using only hand tools (and an impact wrench for taking everything apart since i was lazy) so it can be done

 

[BrandonH13]

No I don't have a vice, There is one at my parents thought that I could drive and use im sure.
I will have my cousin help me, he works for sterling trucking company so he works on big trucks all day. He thought we had to pull the pinion and everything out of the rear end...so now that he knows its about 1/2 the work, he is excited to help now.

So when I crush it with the vice....how do I know if I crush it the rest of the way when putting everything back together? Also do I still do the same procedure I would do with using the old one....as in measure torque with wheels off and then retighten to that torque?

 

[imp]

No I don't have a vice, There is one at my parents thought that I could drive and use im sure.
I will have my cousin help me, he works for sterling trucking company so he works on big trucks all day. He thought we had to pull the pinion and everything out of the rear end...so now that he knows its about 1/2 the work, he is excited to help now.

So when I crush it with the vice....how do I know if I crush it the rest of the way when putting everything back together? Also do I still do the same procedure I would do with using the old one....as in measure torque with wheels off and then retighten to that torque?

Brandon, in my opinion....I would not mess with "pre-crushing" the sleeve before installation. It's just not necessary, and if you go too far, you've wasted it! If you succeed in getting the old sleeve out, crushing the new one is not that difficult, a 2-foot breaker bar will work, using some muscle. The old sleeve can be removed from the front of the housing when the U-joint flange and seal are removed. To get to it, you must pull the front pinion roller bearing off the pinion shaft before you can see the sleeve. If the bearing is too tight a fit on the pinion, you will not be able to slide the bearing forward (towards you) and off the pinion shaft. Measure the pinion pre-load torque (turning) BEFORE you loosen the nut. Then, regardless of whether you wind up with the old or new sleeve in place, you can re-establish pinion preload torque fairly close. Forget about marking the nut's location somehow; that won't cut it! DO mark the driveshaft end so the U-joint goes back into the flange in same position it came off.

Picture this: the crush sleeve is "squeezed" in between the two roller bearings on the pinion shaft; the bearings are tapered, with their BIG ends facing away from each other. The idea is that as the nut tightens, it begins crushing the sleeve while the bearings still have clearance between them. As tightening continues, a point is reached where the bearings begin to also be "squeezed" against their outer races, which are pressed into the housing itself. To reach that point, the torque on the nut will be high enough that it won't loosen during operation. Be careful not to OVERTIGHTEN, which means if you find the preload TOO HIGH, and back-off the nut, the crush sleeve will then become useless, and you've lost the ballgame, needing a NEW crush sleeve at that point. So, TIGHTEN THE NUT IN SMALL BITS AT A TIME, stopping to "feel" the effort to turn the pinion each time. When it starts getting harder to turn, start measuring the turning torque, tighten a little more, measure again, do this until you reach a torque level close to the original you measured before you loosened up the nut in the first place. imp

 

[BrandonH13]

And the rear take 75-140 fluid correct? Does it need to be synthenic?

 

[imp]

And the rear take 75-140 fluid correct? Does it need to be synthenic?

Use viscosity (weight) as specified in Owner's Manual. Does not need to be synthetic, but DOES need Friction Modifier added if Limited Slip Differential. imp

 

[BrandonH13]

The door code says 46 which I believe is the 3.73 open correct? I thought ford had put out a thing saying to use 75-140 instead of 75-90 for the "whining"

So no need for the limited slip.