2003 Leaking Rearend
#1
03-17-2006, 07:07 PM
2003 Leaking Rearend
I have a 2003 F-150 with the 8.8 rearend.
During last oil change i noticed a leak at the rearend. It appears to be coming from in the center of the u-joint area.....where the drive shaft connects to the pinion shaft....maybe around the pinion shaft nut?
Usually when i see a rearend leak, its from the area at the end of the diff. housing and the pinion shaft....not inside of the u-joint area.
Has anybody ever seen this before?
Tomorrow i will unbolt the drive shaft....What should the pinion nut be torqued to?
During last oil change i noticed a leak at the rearend. It appears to be coming from in the center of the u-joint area.....where the drive shaft connects to the pinion shaft....maybe around the pinion shaft nut?
Usually when i see a rearend leak, its from the area at the end of the diff. housing and the pinion shaft....not inside of the u-joint area.
Has anybody ever seen this before?
Tomorrow i will unbolt the drive shaft....What should the pinion nut be torqued to?
#2
03-17-2006, 08:08 PM
Sounds like the pinion seal is leaking. There's two different schools about what you're supposed to do to replace it.
The official way is to pull the axles, carrier, pinion gear, flange, replace the crush sleeve, replace the seal, put it all back together and away you go. You're supposed to do this because anytime you loosen the pinion nut (like to remove the flange to access the seal), you've potentially changed the pinion bearing preload.
The unofficial way is to remove the pinion nut, pull the flange off, pop the old seal out, hammer the new one in, and carefully tighten the pinion nut and flange back up making sure not to go too loose or too tight.
Honestly, if you're not familiar with the repair, this really isn't a good job to learn the hard way since if the pinion bearing preload is reset improperly, at best you'll get some gear whine, and at worst the bearings will overheat and eventually destroy themselves.
The official way is to pull the axles, carrier, pinion gear, flange, replace the crush sleeve, replace the seal, put it all back together and away you go. You're supposed to do this because anytime you loosen the pinion nut (like to remove the flange to access the seal), you've potentially changed the pinion bearing preload.
The unofficial way is to remove the pinion nut, pull the flange off, pop the old seal out, hammer the new one in, and carefully tighten the pinion nut and flange back up making sure not to go too loose or too tight.
Honestly, if you're not familiar with the repair, this really isn't a good job to learn the hard way since if the pinion bearing preload is reset improperly, at best you'll get some gear whine, and at worst the bearings will overheat and eventually destroy themselves.
#3
03-17-2006, 09:18 PM
After doing a search on the subject....i can up with the two lines of thinking that you mentioned. It has been mentioned in a couple of threads that it might be the pinion nut could have loosen up....which i dont know if thats good or bad....maybe good that the seal isnt bad.....but how would you know how tight to put the nut...and why did it loosen?
So...if its loose....will it hurt anything if i wait and have the repair done at a later date?
So...if its loose....will it hurt anything if i wait and have the repair done at a later date?
#4
03-17-2006, 10:08 PM
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My pinion seal leaked, not too bad, but it was from that shield thing backwards. Also, all over the box in a sort of line were little drops were. Dealer fixed under warranty, so I don't know how much is involved. It doesn't look too bad to do. Also the u-joint was dry and everything, just basically the pinion seal back.