Pinion seal leak...how far can i drive it?

Morgstang · Dec 24, 2009

just replaced the pinion seal thinking that would solve my leak....im guessing now its the pinion bearing because fluid is poring out of it now....i filled it up to the check hole with fluid so im guessing that was what caused such a bad leak.....heres my question now.....i need to drive the car about 70 miles to get it to the shop that will fix it.....since all the fluid has probably run out that was above the seal line will i have enough fluid in the bottom of the pinion seal line to allow me to drive it that far?

wmburns · Dec 24, 2009

What did the sealing surface of the compainion flange look like? How did you re-install the flange? Did you use a new crush sleeve? How did you re-establish the pinion pre-load?

Did you use any RTV between the pinion nut and flange? The oil can leak out between the splines and the nut (completely bypassing the seal).

Just wondering if the source of the leak can be nailed down, you could fix it yourself. IMO, for the fluid to POUR out means a big gap. The kind of gap that would result from the companion flange not being FULLY pressed onto the pinion.

Morgstang · Dec 24, 2009

seal leak

i didnt actually fix it myself....i had a local mechanic who put the new seal in...he didnt appear to be the most knowledgable about it though...when he put the pinion bearing nut back on all he did was run it on with an impact wrench....didnt torque anything at all....at the time i didnt know any better myself so i just took it after he was done....im gonna take it back to the shop that had originally put the 3:73 gears in for me but as i said its 70 miles away....all i need to do is get it there...i dont wanna pay $250 for a wrecker to haul it there...what im thinking is that the fluid ran out so fast because it was completely full at the time...if it has leaked out to the pinion bearing level know will it leak anymore being the fluid level is lower than the bearing....im gonna put 4:10's in it when i get it there and all new bearings so im not concerned if it does anything to those parts....i just dont want it to lock up and cost me twice as much...just need to make it there...

wmburns · Dec 24, 2009

Sounds like the local mechanic REALLY doesn't know his stuff. The pinion pre-load has to be measured and re-established.

IMO, you are correct about the lowest level the fluid can leak down to. However, what you may not be considering is that the ring gear acts as a pump moving the oil in the sump throughout the pumpkin.

Try this. Put the rear axle on stands. Disable traction control. Put the car in drive. I suspect that additional oil will come running out from the pumping action of the ring gear.

Depending on how fast the oil comes out determines if it will be OK to drive.

If you look on the inside of the diff, there are channels above and below the front pinion bearing. The ring gear acts as a pump moving the oil from the diff sump through the top hole. The oil floods the pinion bearing draining back into the sump via the bottom hole. Hence the reason I think the leak will begin anew.

Consider going back to the local mechanic and have him/her fix the leak. Then it will be safe to drive the 70 miles to the better mechanic.

Mike97gt · Dec 24, 2009

wmburns said:
Sounds like the local mechanic REALLY doesn't know his stuff. The pinion pre-load has to be measured and re-established.

IMO, you are correct about the lowest level the fluid can leak down to. However, what you may not be considering is that the ring gear acts as a pump moving the oil in the sump throughout the pumpkin.

Try this. Put the rear axle on stands. Disable traction control. Put the car in drive. I suspect that additional oil will come running out from the pumping action of the ring gear.

Depending on how fast the oil comes out determines if it will be OK to drive.

If you look on the inside of the diff, there are channels above and below the front pinion bearing. The ring gear acts as a pump moving the oil from the diff sump through the top hole. The oil floods the pinion bearing draining back into the sump via the bottom hole. Hence the reason I think the leak will begin anew.

Consider going back to the local mechanic and have him/her fix the leak. Then it will be safe to drive the 70 miles to the better mechanic.

He probably damaged the sealing surface when he removed the old seal. if that's the case if it's a minor scratch just file it down if it's serious You will have to fill it with some metal epoxy and file that down flat. or replace the housing. The other possibility is that the flange is junk.

Funny thing is ford does not pay us to take the diff apart and replace the crush sleeve when doing a pinion seal.

They don't SAY for us to just run the nut back down but they say it silently with what the labor op pays. they give us under a hour (.9) to replace a rear pinion seal under warranty. They know it takes longer then that to take the brakes apart, remove the abs sensors, get the axles out and carrier out and replace the crush collar and reset the preload and they don't care. So they are silently telling us to just run the nut down.

wmburns · Dec 26, 2009

What bothers me about this post is the OP stated that oil was POURING out. With heavy gear oil, that means a good size gap (I would think).

It might help if the OP posted pictures of the leak. Esp after a little clean up so perhaps the size and location of the leak can be determined.

Morgstang · Dec 26, 2009

leak

i had a friend of mine trailer it to the shop thats gonna work on it. I didnt wanna take a chance of messing up more than what was already wrong with it.

Pinion seal leak...how far can i drive it?

Morgstang

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Mike97gt

it doe snot

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