Well the pinion seal has been replaced. Decided to do it myself rather than pay $165 (parts & labor)…mainly because my brother was on hot standby 800 miles away and I could call him the moment a problem would arise. Only had to call him a couple of times. The Pinion shaft nut took a 1 1/8” socket. I had to use a propane torch to heat up the four 12pt 12mm Driveshaft support bolts before I could back them out. I used the count the turns of the nut method after marking the pinion shaft and yoke and socket and …you get the ideal…The main headache I had was the Yoke companion flange…it did not want to come off easily…so I had to employ a gear puller…still with the puller and tap as I went along, it took approx 45 minutes to finally get it off (my brother thought this was peculiar). Old seal came out; new seal went in (textbook). Put the Yoke back on and tightened her back with the same amount of turns that came off…plus a scoatch….torqued down the driveshaft bolts, topped off the pumpkin and scrubbed the under carriage to clean off the splattered gear lube. No leaks.

 

Just as a sidenote...by scoatch I mean 1/16th of inch. Once you pick up the new seal...compare it with the old one still seated, so you know what parts come out and what stay. That way you know where to get a needle punch under the lip of the metal outer ring...once I got that bent out a little I grabbed it with visegrips and hammered the visegrips shaft to pull the seal out (this is right out of the manual). Putting the new one back in (after lightly greasing the outer metal race and inner rubber ring of the new seal) was accomplished by holding in place with the left hand using a block of 1"x2" wood and tapping in with the right hand...or reverse if you're a southpaw. Make sure it seats fully and you're good to go. Incidentally...I checked the vent tube for blockage and sure enough the vent tube nipple orifice had dirty grease blocking the vent. The hose was fine....removed the vent tube nipple fitting ran a pipe cleaner through it and re-installed.

 

Great job. I'm glad it worked out for you. It cost me $100 when I had that done at the dealer this summer.