Differential Shop for Pinion Seal Replacement?

[02SE]

If it's just the seal, make sure the vent is in fact, venting.

 

[Lyman]

I know you said the shop that set it up originally is going to fix it ...


You can DIY. Technically if you want to do it right, yes, you'll have to pay a shop to pull the entire differential apart then set up the preload, shim the pinion ... you're looking at $500 at least in labor.

The high pinion dana 30 does not use a crush sleeve. I've had a few of these break the yoke or shear the bolts off in the yoke and have had to replace the yoke entirely. While it's not "proper" , count the threads and back it off. It's going to be a real BEAR to get that off.

Once the nut is off, a few tippy taps with a small hammer and the yoke will come off. Then you can pull and replace that seal.

Putting back on, apply some RTV to the back and slide it on, also make sure you get it in as far as it was when it came out and tighten as much as you can with a 1' ratchet. You won't be able to overighten it, and if you get the threads exactly where they were when it came off, it'll be fine.

While not the correct method, I have seen plenty of people use this method and never have a problem. I need a new front yoke on my Jeep right now and may use this method myself.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The current rear differential in my Jeep has at least 100K put on it after doing a quick swap of the the yoke.

 

[exranger06]

I once had a shop replace the pinion seal on my Ford 8.8" because it had a VERY minor leak (should've just left it alone). I assumed they knew about proper preload and whatnot, but a few months later, the diff was howling and the pinion bearings were shot. I ended up swapping in a whole rear axle from a junkyard to fix it.

 

[PontiacHO]

Who ever does the job replace the pinion nut. Seen used Pinion nuts back off enough over time and then there’s bearings and possibly a ring and pinion that gets fouled up.

 

[billpace1956]

I looked under my Jeep and noticed my front (Dana 30) pinion seal is leaking. I had a differential shop replace the bearings and axle tube seals almost 3 years and 7k miles ago. I can't remember if they did the pinion or not, they probably did.

Wondering if this is more of a specialty job that I should take it to a differential shop or if any regular mechanic shop could do it? I know there's crush sleeves and stuff, not sure I want to do it myself and either get stuck or mess it up and have problems later on down the road.

View attachment 44502

Just take it to Salem boys in Tempe on Warner road. They work on 10,000 cars per year! They know what they are doing. They replaced my pinion seal on my chevy silverado back in 2008. I never had another problem with it after that.

 

[CDX825]

Make sure the vent on the diff is not blocked causing your leak.