Collector grade Jeep Wrangler TJs for sale

Help, cannot stop rear pinion seal leak

Thanks Raymond, the rust stops right at the edge of the seal, as it was protected from the elements under it. I did clean it up with 300 grit, but it still leaked. I went ahead and replaced the yoke last night with a new OEM one. I have not driven it yet, but I'll know quickly if that sealed it.

I marked and counted the exposed threads, it's exactly where it was before I touched it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Rob5589
Thank you Jerry, that's what I had figured, but still learning as I go on this one.

I used to live in Escondido for a few years while I was stationed out there right off W. El Norte. I sure miss Southern California and lack of rust issues...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
RaymondT said:
Some of those pictures give us the impression that the seal is riding on rust. Did you dress the yoke surface? I always keep a 1" roll of 320gr to polish surfaces where the seal rides.

160ft lbs is a starting point. It won't even start to compress the crush sleeve. Both the Jeep shop manual and Spicer's Dana 35 manual call for torque upward of 260 to 300ft lbs in small increments while monitoring rotational torque. Too loose to over-tight & destroying the bearings is about 1/6th of a turn.
Click to expand...
Rotational torque? What are you looking for there? How do you monitor?
 
Gerund said:
Rotational torque? What are you looking for there? How do you monitor?
Click to expand...
You can't measure rotational drag while assembled. You do that when installing and setting the pinion. To do so you use a dial type inch pound torque wrench.
 
Rob5589 said:
You can't measure rotational drag while assembled.
Click to expand...
Yes you can. :) Photo from BillaVista on Pirate at http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup/

Pinion.webp
 
Last edited:
Should you pull the calipers when you measure so you aren't getting brake shoe drag? Also assuming you can leave the axle shafts engaged?
 
Just so there's no confusion, that link to BillaVista talks about shims to set the pinion preload. That's a different method than the Dana 35 which uses a crush sleeve. The service manual suggests checking the pinion preload with the drums/rotors removed on a used diff. There are a number of companies marketing crush sleeves. Nothing is absolute. I just rebearing'd my Dana 35 with a Timken kit and the force required to start compressing the sleeve was in excess of 200ft lbs. Prior to the rebearing job, I reset the preload on my old diff which saw pretty light duty and it needed a nut-flat of rotation before the gauge showed the required increase on the torque wrench.

Turns out the pinion gears had a few chunks out of the center of the teeth and I didn't find the slightest piece of metal in the banjo. The previous owner had it serviced and the chunks probably disappeared then. The new pinion/side gear kits appear to be a forging rather than the original cut gears.
 
Guys, thank you for all the help. I replaced the seal again, along with the yoke and nut...seams to be OK now..but time will tell.

I cannot for the life of me remove the front pinion nut. With Jeep up in the air, it turns the front wheel, so I dropped it and now it just won't come off....I'm replacing the front seal, yoke and nut because it is leaking really bad....but I'm struggling to remove it...driving around with no front drive shaft for the time being. I am using an air impact gun with over 300ft lbs of torque.
 
TJ Jonny said:
I cannot for the life of me remove the front pinion nut. With Jeep up in the air, it turns the front wheel, so I dropped it and now it just won't come off....I'm replacing the front seal, yoke and nut because it is leaking really bad....but I'm struggling to remove it...driving around with no front drive shaft for the time being. I am using an air impact gun with over 300ft lbs of torque.
Click to expand...
Odds are very good your air impact wrench is not really putting out 300 ft-lbs. Their specs, especially on single-anvil models like sold at Harbor Freight Tools, are grossly inflated. It takes a very good quality double-anvil impact wrench to be able to actually put out that much torque. Keep at it, it will likely eventually work its way loose with the impact wrench.

Unless someone used red (permanent) Loctite to lock the pinion nut on. In that case, use a torch to heat the pinion nut to break the bond of the red Loctite by softening/melting it. Red Locite is commonly used on pinion nuts and it is designed to only be loosened with significant heat. Maybe a true heat gun might do it if you hold it on the nut long enough.
 
Thanks Jerry, do I run the risk of breaking the pinion if I keep at it with the gun and it does not unscrew? I know anything is possible, but is it a common issue??

As far as the gun, its an older Ingersoll-Rand, always taken care of...not some Chinese knock-off from HF lol....still may be the issue though, I have no idea. I'll keep hitting it.
 
TJ Jonny said:
Thanks Jerry, do I run the risk of breaking the pinion if I keep at it with the gun and it does not unscrew? I know anything is possible, but is it a common issue??

As far as the gun, its an older Ingersoll-Rand, always taken care of...not some Chinese knock-off from HF lol....still may be the issue though, I have no idea. I'll keep hitting it.
Click to expand...
It's a common issue if the impact wrench is not up to the job. My IR impact wrench often struggles with things like that, my HFT impact wrenches definitely do.

Don't forget your root problem in not being able to get that nut off is it may be held on with red Loctite. If it is, heat the nut.
 
I don't believe it has been removed since being assembled at the factory. Did they come with locktite from Chrysler?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Guys, this may sound crazy, maybe not I don't know, but this is what I have experienced. Since struggling to remove the front pinion nut, I have been driving around without the front drive shaft. I took it on the highway on Sunday without the front D/S and I was able to hold 70-75mph without have the pedal pinned. I was shocked! Prior to removing the front D/S, it would struggle to hold 60-65 on this exact same stretch of road. I took it out again yesterday, and confirmed it again.....

SO, could this be drag caused by the old u-joints? Anyone have any idea? @Jerry Bransford @Chris ....any thoughts on this?

I can tell you its not just my butt dyno, this is real lol
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

W
Help figuring out a pinion seal leak
Replies
8
Views
2,011
TJ General Discussion
RaymondT
RaymondT
W
Rear pinion seal
Replies
13
Views
2,152
TJ General Discussion
Flivver250
Flivver250
f22beaver
Leaky Rear Pinion Yoke Seal
Replies
9
Views
2,779
TJ General Discussion
UhOh
UhOh
Brando76
Pinion Seal
Replies
4
Views
5,270
TJ General Discussion
Brando76
Brando76
B
Pinion seal problems
Replies
1
Views
571
TJ General Discussion
JMT
JMT
Jeep Wrangler TJ Performance PCM Tuning
Top Bottom
Back