Hi guys, I'm back.


Looking for insights on replacing the oil seal where the driveshaft enters the differential, and also the diff carrier gasket. Seems like disconnecting the driveshaft would be easy enough, but I'm unsure after that. Trying to avoid surprises.


I have a factory manual an the way, but would like to get any info you guys might have on it.


It's a 1981 Econoline, I6, 4spd manual, with a 9" diff (bolts on front of carrier). Thanks.

 

I wouldn't think the axle seals would be to bad to tackle, but the pinion seal may be a chore.

 

If this is your kind of 9" diff - How to Change a Pinion Seal in a Ford 9-inch Rear End | eHow

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 191K miles

 

I didn't notice any pictures, but yes, I believe that's it. Thanks.
After reading the procedure a few times, I'm still unclear as to why the wheels need to come off.

 

if the differential gasket to housing is leaking then you will have to pull the wheels off to pull the axles out in order to remove the differential.
The axles shafts splines go into the differential and will prevent you from pulling the differential out. I had a bad axle bearing along with a leaking gasket. once I got the axle out that had the bad bearing, there were metal shavings in the axle housing tube so I pulled the other axle and differential in order to clean out the housing.
<a href="http://s472.photobucket.com/user/Annaleigh_123/media/WP_20141112_14_22_08_Pro.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr88/Annaleigh_123/WP_20141112_14_22_08_Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WP_20141112_14_22_08_Pro.jpg"/></a>

If someone else doesn't reply with a writeup or link on how to do this I will try to write something up tomorrow evening for you. I did not change the differential drive shaft yoke seal though, only the axle bearings, seals, differential gasket, and cleaned the housing out..

 

Also having the van up as high as I could get it made a big difference as I was able to almost able to sit up under it.
<a href="http://s472.photobucket.com/user/Annaleigh_123/media/WP_20141030_17_28_14_Pro.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr88/Annaleigh_123/WP_20141030_17_28_14_Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WP_20141030_17_28_14_Pro.jpg"/></a>

you will also need a helper to remove the differential as it is extremely heavy.

 

been 15 years, so memory is vague, but here goes. loosen lug nuts on rear tires, put car on 4 jack stands. remove 4 nuts on driveshaft u-joint u-bolts, tap u-bolts loose, do not drop driveshaft. Carefully slip driveshaft backwards ensuring you don't loose caps that bolted into u-joint u-bolts and lay driveshaft somewhere safe and out of way. The automatic transmission tailshaft will now be coating you with trans fluid if you didn't get a large pan to put under it.....
remove rear wheels entirely. There is like 4 bolts around the axle flange towards middle of rear hub assy, remove those 4 large bolts or nuts (again been 15 years). Bolt back on rear tires with 2 lug nuts and use them as puller to pull hard and jerk and yank to pull axles straight out rear end.
Unbolt the nuts around the hogs head (center pumpkin) of the 9 inch and pull it out straight towards front of vehicle. Clean out all the very putrid differential fluid. Consider new axle bearings/seals, rear brake shoes at this time and reverse order. When put back together, if diff flange area is really clean of grease (use alcohol or brake clean), you can use silicone gasket sealer like blue permatex or my favorite "the right stuff" rather than an actual gasket to reseal the pumpkin. Ensure your differential vent functional also while all is down, usually on driver side top of 9 inch.
Again, 15 years is long time and I'm over 50, so I may have given you totally wrong info but not maliciously! odisvan

 

Great stuff. Really Fantastic.
When I posted the original question, I did not realize that the entire differential came out with the removal of that cover. So, I learned something there.
Anyway, the carrier gasket is not leaking at this time, so I'm going to focus on the drive pinion oil seal, which is. I received my factory manuals today, and I've been reading the procedure in there. I noticed a great many tools that I do not have (I guess VW weren't the only ones with "special tools"), so any input I can get on removing, and installing the pinion seal is still welcome.
Thanks very much.

 

Hello Keystoner,
In the 26 years of owning my 78 E250, I have not been shy about tackling anything and every dis-assembly, repair, teardown, rebuild (including engines, front ends, and transmissions), electrical, frame, and every other possible item on an Econoline including ones that belonged to other people. But I gotta tell you that when my pinion seal started leaking, that was the one and only time that I can think of that I let a "professional" mechanic do the job. That's not an easy one and I believe that there are some special tools required and some heavy re-torqing and re-loading of the pinion bearing. But hey, if you tackle it yourself, I wish you the best and hope it goes well and would be very anxious to hear the result.

 

Well I am sorry but I cant help much with the pinion yoke seal. When I did the work on my 85 that was one of the few things I didn’t do.
I just saw Ennar’s post and he is correct about the differential repairs. When I worked on my rear axle it started as simply needing to replace a axle bearing. With over 140k miles, I decided to replace both axle bearings. Once I had the axles out I could feel some small metal shavings or grit like material and a little rust in the axle tube on the drivers side that had the bad bearing. I think most of it was just a little rust where the van had sat for a long time with very little use. But since I had the axles out and the differential gasket was leaking, I decided to pull the differential out and inspect it along with cleaning out the housing. I did not take the differential apart.
If my differential needed to be worked on I would probably pull it out and take it to a shop that rebuilds them If they would guarantee the work with my pulling it out and reinstalling it. That would save a good bit of money doing it that way. If you decide to pull it out and take it somewhere I will post instructions of how I removed mine and replaced it..
There are some videos and instructions on how to replace the pinion seal but if you do not get the pinion yoke back on with the proper torque, you will probably wind up with serious problems in the future. Some say to simply mark the pinion shaft, nut, and yoke before removing it. Replace the seal and then reinstall lining the marks on the nut back up. The problem is that tightening the yoke on the pinion shaft sets the pre load on the pinion bearings. Too much and you will burn the pinion bearings up. Too little and the pinion bearings will be too loose. Along with that, any adjustment different from the proper torque as shown in the video will change the position of how the ring and pinion gear mesh together.
Allot of people have done it the simple method and had success while others have not. Do allot of research and then make your decision

Here is a good set of videos on rebuilding a 9“ differential. There is a total of 4 videos.

Here is how to remove the drive shaft if you choose to do the job yourself or pull the differential.
1st.
Park on solid level gro0und and jack the van up as high as you can safely get it. Use stands on both sides and after lowering the weight down on the stands, leave the jack under the center of the rear axle with just a little pressure for extra safety. If you only jack up the back of the van then be sure and chalk the front wheels very good so that there is no chance of it rolling backwards or forward.

2nd.
Removing the drive shaft.
My mothers 78 E-100 is a “shorty” and has a single drive shaft and no center bearing carrier while my 85 has a two piece drive shaft with a center bearing carrier that holds up the front half of the drive shaft. The front half of my drive shaft with bearing carrier looks much like this one.
http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...8-l1E9MPOg.jpg
In the picture, the right side with the U-joint and yoke goes into the transmission while the spline end where you see the pressed on bearing carrier, connects to the rear half of the drive shaft. If you have the 2 piece drive shaft, then you should not need to remove the front shaft and bearing carrier.
Before removing the U-bolts holding the drive shaft to the pinion yoke, mark one of the caps on the rear U-joint and mark the pinion shaft yoke on the same side so that you can put the drive shaft back in its original location. Sometimes if not put back in the original location you will have a vibration later.
Once you have loosened and removed the U-bolts, try to put some tape around the U-joint to keep the caps from falling off when you remove the shaft from the yoke.. If one or both fall off you will probably wind up replacing the U-joint as you may loose some of the little pins in the cap. Next you may be able to push the rear half of the drive shaft forward so it will drop out of the yoke. If not then use a small pry-bar between the yoke and drive shaft to force it forward. If it is a two piece shaft then it will slide forward on the spline on the front shaft. Once clear of the yoke, it should lay on the ground and you can work around it. The rear shaft can be pulled off of the spline on the front shaft but you may have a very hard time getting it back on. If you do remove it from the front drive shaft, be sure to put a mark on both shafts somewhere around the spline so you can reinstall it in its original position also.
If you have a single drive shaft then you can simply pull it out of the transmission tail shaft and move it out of your way. You will need a container under the tail shaft to catch some transmission fluid that will drain out unless you only jacked up the rear of the van and the van is tilted down hill.

 

You don't really need any specialty tools to do this besides a couple torque wrenches. You need an in./lb. torque wrench, preferably with a dial or even a cheapo one with a needle & scale will work, to check the bearing pre-load. And the second one you need is a ft./lb. torque wrench that goes high enough to re-torque the pinion nut.

You will need something to hold the pinion yoke while you break the nut loose and tighten it. This can be done with a pipe wrench and a piece of pipe.

There is no need to pull the axles or the center section. Pulling the tires off will make checking the bearing pre-load a little easier ( less rotating mass ) .

Set the rear end on jack stands, pull the tires, pull the rear U-joint u-bolts, remove the rear of the driveshaft from the pinion yoke, tape the caps in place on the rear u-joint. Then set the rear of the driveshaft out of the way without sliding it out of the transmission ( big mess if you do ) .

Then check the pinion bearing pre-load with the in./lb. torque wrench. Once you know the pre-load you can loosen the pinion nut, pull the yoke, replace the seal, replace the yoke. Torque the pinion nut in multiple steps, checking the pre-load at each step. When your pre-load matches the original you are good to go. Reinstall the drive shaft, throw the tires back on and let the van back down on to the ground and you are finished.

This is just a generalization of what the steps are. But you get the idea.

 

Well I finally got this done. All I did was the pinion yoke seal.
I was able to do it at work, which made it easier as the van was racked. Disconnected the drive shaft, removed the nut on the yoke, slid the yoke out, pryed out the old seal, hammered in the new one, yoke back in, re-tightened nut, reconnect drive shaft. This does not include all the cleaning I did throughout the process.
Thanks for all the input and help.

 

Great.
Did you go through the whole process of checking the preload and such?

 

Sadly, no.


The lead tech at work told me I "didn't need to worry about" he said to just make sure I got it TIGHT.


Now, as it turns out, I did not spend enough time cleaning it and the replacement seal leaked, soo, I ended up doing it over. This time I cleaned everything very well, but I still had the problem of having lost my torque reference point. By this time I was regretting "not worrying about it". Anyway, when I put the pinion yoke back in I torqued the nut to 125 ft lbs.
When I turned it by hand afterward it felt kind of like it was binding up intermittently as it turned. And, when I did the test drive it didn't feel exactly right, as in, it felt different than it did before I messed with it.
Any idea if 125 is way to tight, or not?

 

I see in the manual that it specifies pinion bearing pre-load at 8-14 (in-lbs.) so that's not 125. I think I'll be re-torqueing this.