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Differential Output shafts Oil Seal replacement.


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Hi all

Noticed that one side has a bad oil leak so I suspect the seal has gone. At £3 a seal I thought I'd replace both however after a bit of a search it seems they are not easy to replace as the shafts are a tight fit with no guarantee of success. Rimmers sell complete assemblies at £165/side!! or James Paddock has these http://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/differential-side-input-shaft-lh-reconditioned-2  at £40/side on an exchange basis.

Anyone had experience of these or are there other alternatives?

Are the seals really that difficult to do I've a 10 tonne press.

Cheers

Andy

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Hi Andy,

         you don't need a mighty press.  A simple clamp type tool will work. But they can be tight.

Kevo-6 (I think)  has done this by clamping both sides back to back.

Do a search for this thread about three years ago

 

Have a look here  

 

Roger

Edited by RogerH
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Thanks Rodger I'll give it a go.

With a bit of luck they won't be too tight!

Just one thing I can see the filler half way up the side of the diff but no drain or am I missing something?

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9 hours ago, PodOne said:

Thanks Rodger I'll give it a go.

With a bit of luck they won't be too tight!

Just one thing I can see the filler half way up the side of the diff but no drain or am I missing something?

Nope, sealed for life thought processes came in with the TR4a, so they deleted the sump plug probably for the 7s 6d it cost for a threaded hole and a plug and carried the same idea on throughout the range. Good idea to drill the housing, thread and fit a plug to help future diff oil changes.

Mick Richards

edit - just as Riger says also.

Edited by Motorsport Mickey
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10 hours ago, PodOne said:

Hi all

Noticed that one side has a bad oil leak so I suspect the seal has gone. At £3 a seal I thought I'd replace both however after a bit of a search it seems they are not easy to replace as the shafts are a tight fit with no guarantee of success. Rimmers sell complete assemblies at £165/side!! or James Paddock has these http://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/differential-side-input-shaft-lh-reconditioned-2  at £40/side on an exchange basis.

Anyone had experience of these or are there other alternatives?

Are the seals really that difficult to do I've a 10 tonne press.

Cheers

Andy

I have done this job a number of times over the last 40 years. The problem has always been the cold welding of tapers? To over come this I have always used a SP hydraulic extractor/hub puller, with a few of my home made attachments. It can exert a pulling pressure of up to 8 tons per sq. in. I clamp the stub axle in the vice and tighten up the puller to maximum pressure.  I then hit the stub axle using an aluminium drift  and club hammer. As I find that this method breaks the cold welding but there is a word of warning here! There has been occasions when there has been an all mighty crack and part of the assembly has taken off into the air rising as much as 4ft into the air, so you have to be careful that nothing lands on your feet. I have done this job for other people and are yet to find an easy one.

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I simply made a cylindrical distance peace to fit into a second flange

I keep as a tool and remove the nut of the stubaxle, put both items with

the spacer back to back and fit four longer bolts in Grade8.

 

When the bolts are at the limit I give the second flange a smash with a

500grams hammer till the parts split.

 

Some do not split, that is the bad side of the story, but 90% do!

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15 hours ago, RogerH said:

Hi Andy,

         you don't need a mighty press.  A simple clamp type tool will work. But they can be tight.

Kevo-6 (I think)  has done this by clamping both sides back to back.

Do a search for this thread about three years ago

 

Have a look here  

 

Roger

Hi, it wasn’t me I’m afraid.

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If  yer seals leek,n, then it may well be that seals  gone cos the flange it sits on is pitted,

or, its  got a groove int flange,  oft oil seal.{ not very often is this done wid a leather seal though }

untill ye git it off, ye just cannae say

If its pitted / grooved, then put,n in a new seal will moer than likely leak agen.

So, best bet is t,bung 2 seals a side in, there enough room for 2 a side

 

Ohh, tek,n flange oft stub axle,  slacken nuts off an 1/8th, or till at top oft threads ont shaft,

then get a hollow tube, that fits onto the inner flange oft bearing,

and then push doon wid press on nut end,

nut will stop it flying off

doo it this way, it,ll stop the chances oft flange bending, or flange actually shearing off, it happens.

 

M

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Andy,

Undo the 4 bolts either side on the diff, pull out half shafts. If you have standard driveshafts cut the cable tie/steel band on driveshaft boot over splines, seperate the drive shaft (splines can only go back one way). Take the inner driveshaft and half shaft to vice. Undo centre nut from half shaft in the vice leave the nut sticking out a little from the half shaft thread, if you drop a couple of bolts through the bolt holes it will stop the half shaft from turning when undoing the large nut. Then bolt the half shaft and drive shaft together with the existing nuts and bolts, make sure you tighten them up evenly, you should have a gap of about 5mm between the flanges, if less than that you need to undo the big nut a little more. Use spanners to tighten up the four nuts/bolts, when you have a fair bit of tension strike the halfshaft flange from both sides at the same time with hammers as per most tapers.

I did both of mine today, only thing is you should really renew the large halfshaft nut as it distorts the nylock part, use the same nut for both sides, you could turn the nut round to prevent damage but it locates into the driveshaft better the correct way round.

Just a thought though, I had my drive shafts out so I dont know if the inner driveshaft will clear the diff in situ to enable removal. You can back to back the two halfshafts as already mentioned but you need specific high tensile bolt lengths to do it.

Having said all that I may just have been lucky that both mine came apart easily !

John

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Hi John 

Thanks for the info.

The diff is out of the car so will try the back to back method after I source some grade 8 bolts.

Andy

 

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8 hours ago, PodOne said:

Hi John 

Thanks for the info.

The diff is out of the car so will try the back to back method after I source some grade 8 bolts.

Andy

 

Andy,

the unf bolts with 3 stripes on the head are the same strength as metric bolts with 8.8 stamped. And they should suffice.

the flange collar will be the weakest link.

Waldi

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all

Few questions as ever!

Started this job today by draining the oil through the filler and cleaning the diff up which highlighted that it's a CP diff and the input shaft seal is also leaking. After a search can you confirm that a diff with a castellated nut and split pin has solid spacer and I wont need to worry about setting the pre-load? I was planning on locking the out-put shafts, marking the position and counting the turns as it comes off and replacing it using the same or would I be better torquing the nut up I think I read to 65ft/lbs. Who does the best synthetic seals?

Interestingly the out put shaft nuts are nyloc's rather than castellated which I was expecting is this correct? Or have they being changed previously?

It's being suggested to fit a drain plug any pics of where and what size drill and tap.

Thanks all

Andy

 

 

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If the diff has a castellated nut, it should be a safe assumption that the pinion has a solid spacer, but to be safe, just mark the position of the nut.

The drain plug is 3/8" tapered pipe and the tap drill is 37/64". There is a neat boss on the diff for location, but care must be taken to center the plug hole. 

I think the nut on the axles was changed to nylocs long before the change to the collaspsible spacer and nyloc on the pinion.

Berry

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  • 1 year later...

PCW64 stated:  “I have replaced all 3 oil seals on my diff and you do need a good press to press the flange off of the shaft as it is on a taper with a key way, I don't think you will do it with a 3 legged puller.”  So am I..... my experience played out this way.  Used a hydraulic bearing puller - no luck.  Next, a 10 ton press with heat, penetrating oil etc. - no luck.  Next, a machinist made it simple and pressed it with a 40 ton press and maxed out the scale reading on both.... when the tapered shafts let go his (estimated 300 plus pound) press jumped 1 inch upward.  What I have difficulty understanding is when reassembling...... how much force is used to mate the tapered spindles together?

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On 11/11/2018 at 9:38 PM, PodOne said:

Hi all

Noticed that one side has a bad oil leak so I suspect the seal has gone. At £3 a seal I thought I'd replace both however after a bit of a search it seems they are not easy to replace as the shafts are a tight fit with no guarantee of success. Rimmers sell complete assemblies at £165/side!! or James Paddock has these http://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/differential-side-input-shaft-lh-reconditioned-2  at £40/side on an exchange basis.

Anyone had experience of these or are there other alternatives?

Are the seals really that difficult to do I've a 10 tonne press.

Cheers

Andy

Hi Andy,

Cold welding is the problem, if they have cold welded that where the problem is! I have done this job a number of times, even for other people. But I have never had an easy one. I use a Sykes Pickavant hub puller which can exert 8 tons it has never failed yet. I also use an Alum. drift which I hit with a 2lb hammer. You have to be careful that part of the assembly does not fly off and land on your feet? If I leave the assemble under tension, I cover it up with an old bath towel, as I had one part assemble take off and nearly hit the ceiling in my garage. Good Luck with this job!

Bruce.

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Hi Bruce 

Job undertaken some time ago now December 2018. I needed a 20 tonne press on one of them which let go with a bang the other more or less fell apart. The input shaft despite a new seal leaked despite not turning a wheel. I've just removed the hub again and fitted a SKF speedi sleeve which I hope cures the leak for me before the body goes back on.

Andy 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evening all 

Thought I'd update this thread. The input oil seal was replaced and I still had a leak so I and as advised by fellow members I fitted a SKF speedi seal and put her back together. I was going to refit the diff today and I still had a oil leak but not from the seal lip but from behind the carrier bolted to the case. So I think the oil can only be coming from the outer metal case of the seal and the diff housing as there were some scores which I suspect have occurred from a PO prising the seal out which can be seen in the pictures below.

I have a OEM Payen seal which has a leather? sealing lip which was still supple and is now in a bath of oil. Before I fit it I thought I'd ask is there any advantage in using it or would I be better to fit another "modern" seal. Which ever goes back in the seal housing will be having some gasket sealer applied. Hopefully I finally have a oil tight diff!

Cheers Andy

 

IMG_0846.jpeg

IMG_0845.jpeg

Edited by PodOne
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  • 3 months later...

I have a leak from the left hand shaft oil seal, the seal literally drips oil as you watch!

The gap between the oil seal housing and the drive flange is about 1/2” which seems really big. When the housing is against the bearing as in the photo it is really loose and not sealing so the leak is understandable. I rebuilt both sides a couple of years ago and all had been ok, the gap on the left was always about 1/2”. Having looked online no others seem to have a gap.

I think the issue may be that the bearing is too far down the tapered shaft which creates the gap. I can only think to buy a new bearing and try it but does anyone have any ideas before I do this or before I end up buying a whole new assembly!!

 

36AEB39C-C072-4F79-B940-44EA3292A475.jpeg

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If you Push the bearing back along the shaft till it touches the drive flange inner spigot does the oil seal then run on the flange spigot?      Re tighten the big nut that holds the drive flange in place afterwards.

If the seal is not tight on the drive flange spigot it is either f***ggd or the wrong seal.

there should be sealant under the big washer between it and the flange, that is held in place by the big nut, in all three places on the irs diff.

 

Peter W

 

 

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