Differential Question???

[Hotrod Robby]

I got out of work this morning to find a good amount of fluid under the front driveshaft, towards the differential end. The yoke and U-joint were dripping wet, although the differential and axle were dry. It doesn't look like motor oil. I have not checked the differential fluid level as of yet. I will do that later on today.
If it is the pinion seal, can the seal be changed without pulling the entire axle out of the truck? Any suggestions?
1976 CJ7 - straight 6 motor.

 

[IOPort51]

I got out of work this morning to find a good amount of fluid under the front driveshaft, towards the differential end. The yoke and U-joint were dripping wet, although the differential and axle were dry. It doesn't look like motor oil. I have not checked the differential fluid level as of yet. I will do that later on today.
If it is the pinion seal, can the seal be changed without pulling the entire axle out of the truck? Any suggestions?
1976 CJ7 - straight 6 motor.

I will say yes,you will have to remove the yoke and the pinion nut.and you will need a seal driver that has a hole in the center be sure to re torque the pinion nut. I don't think this will have an effect on the R&P gears, Be quick with the removal of the pinion nut, air impact would be best and be sure to re torque to spec and no more you would not want to change the dimension of the crush sleeve. i think I would want 4 to 6 hours to do this well including parts shopping, Take it to the car wash first get it clean on the outside, take it home, pull the cover, drain and clean the inside. What do the U-joints look like? Is there any play in the pinion bearing? A seal seldom goes FUBAR unless it has friction or impact from someplace, Did dirt eat it or is there play in the bearing?? and then again it could be old and dryrotted.
Nothing is ever as easy as you first think it is!
I would go for it, it isn't going to fix itself, it may quit dripping on the drivway but only because it ran out of oil.
It will be fun.

 

[Hotrod Robby]

What do the U-joints look like? Is there any play in the pinion bearing? A seal seldom goes FUBAR unless it has friction or impact from someplace, Did dirt eat it or is there play in the bearing?? and then again it could be old and dryrotted.

The U-joints look pretty good. No play that I could find. My guess is that the bearing is old. I will find out later on in the day. Thanks.

 

[BajaEdition]

Before that check to see if the oil is coming down from the t case. Just a thought

 

[Old Dog]

As baja said make sure where the oil is comming from.
If it's the pinion seal, you will need a tool to hold the yoke while you remove, and reinstall the pinion nut. You will also need an INCH pound torque wrench to reset the load on the bearing. You need to check what it takes to turn the nut (gears and axle) before you take it off and than reset it to the same reading as you retighten the new nut. This keeps you from crushing the crush sleve and messing up your gear setting.
Is this the front or rear axle ?

 

[CJ]

The 76 AMC20

and the 76 Dana 30

don't use crush sleeves. No reason to worry about using an inch pound torque wrench. The bearing preload is set by the shim pack on the pinion. Just re-torque to specs and the preload is set back as it was before. You only need the inch pound torque wrench when setting the initial shim pack up.

 

[Old Dog]

The Haynes manual will help you with the details.

 

[Jokenring]

don't use crush sleeves. No reason to worry about using an inch pound torque wrench. The bearing preload is set by the shim pack on the pinion. Just re-torque to specs and the preload is set back as it was before. You only need the inch pound torque wrench when setting the initial shim pack up.

^^^ This

Crush sleeves aren't used on a Dana 30 .

 

[CJ]

^^^ This

Crush sleeves aren't used on a Dana 30 .

Or the 76 AMC20 .

 

[Old Dog]

^^^ This

Crush sleeves aren't used on a Dana 30 .

Or the 76 AMC20 .

Sorry, from now on I won't post till after my second cup of coffee.

 

[Jokenring]

Or the 76 AMC20 .

I wasn't sure about that one. I have never worked on the model 20.

 

[CJ]

Late model Dana 30 's have crush sleeves... I believe it's the TJ - No CJ Dana 30 ever used them.

That's why I specified the year.

 

[LongHorn]

So where was the leak?

 

[IOPort51]

So where was the leak?

I think we can be pretty sure it wasn't anyplace near the crush sleeve.

 

[LongHorn]

I think we can be pretty sure it wasn't anyplace near the crush sleeve.

Yeah, I was going with Baja.