Oh, and just to point out - if you go to the first post in this saga, you'll see that it was a year ago today I started this undertaking. Undertaking... Undertaker...
Hmm.
No, Faulkner will not be the death of me! I just need to put in the hours, and it will get done.
Faulkner wrote:I've got to place a NAPA order anyway for the exhaust clamps and hangers, I'll place an order for a seal too.
Hmm. I've never replaced inner seals, just outer ones. Is replacing the inner seal something I should even mess with? If so, which one here is correct? I don't have the first idea how I would extract it...
The tool you show and a flashlight is what you need. The inner seal usually fails first but you should replace it anyway. You will find the correct numbers on the seals you remove. Take pictures and refer to your manuals. I think there is a land for the inner seal to rest against.
Dick
Thanks, Dick. Does gear oil only find its way to the axle when the car is in motion - i.e., should I tilt the one side up when I pull the seals, to avoid it dripping out? (Although, between the seal and the plug, I suspect I've lost quite a bit of oil already.)
Dick Koch wrote:The tool you show and a flashlight is what you need. The inner seal usually fails first but you should replace it anyway. You will find the correct numbers on the seals you remove. Take pictures and refer to your manuals. I think there is a land for the inner seal to rest against.
Dick
Watching YouTube videos... OMG! Do I have to remove the axle, to remove even the outer seal? And to do that - do I have to disassemble the differential, to remove a clip? It's not clear that, given Faulkner's current perch, I have enough room to remove the axle without hitting the wall...
I'd be happy to take my chances on replacing just the outer seal, if there's a way to extract it without engaging "the mushroom factor".
Sorry, you gotta pull the axle shaft out. No clip just splines on other end. Make sure the bearing is smooth and not galled, check the race also for galling and heavy discoloration. The bearing is pressed on the shafts. Maybe while you are at it you may want to consider doing the other side. As far as the wall is concerned knock a hole in it so you can take the axle out.
Dick
Wow, I didn't realize until today how involved this is! I naively thought I could just pull the axle out from here; but of course, the backing plate assembly is what retains the axle. I have to disassemble the whole shebang:
And from the looks of this article, removing the axle is no small feat. Plus, given that the outer seal is leaking, there's a good chance the bearing is cooked - the inner seal leaked first, and the bearing grease will have been washed away with gear oil. Besides the challenge of getting the axle out with a tool I don't have, the bearing will have to be pressed off with a tool I don't have.
If I were Dick Koch, Matthew Keij or John Fowlie, I would consider taking this on. But the weekend mechanic in me says this is not for mere mortals. I'll be cleaning this up as best as I can, zipping it up and taking it to a local garage with a box of parts for replacement. Once I finish the undercarriage, and hang the exhaust and gas tank, that is.
OK - after my power nap, I'm rethinking this. Yanking the axle out is something I can do, using the "deep well socket" puller trick described in that article, along with the brake drum. But, if I need a bearing, off to the machine shop goes the axle.
The manual says to use a "C-499" axle puller, but doesn't show a picture. Here's a picture of a "499" puller that can be bought here, and it looks just like a puller I can rent from Auto Zone:
But, this can't be it. A C-499 must have a fork or well at the end that slips over the threads of the axle and permits you to snug up the crown nut, and then whack away on the slide hammer. I'm guessing! Can't find a pic anywhere.
I use a slide hammer like the one shown above, I bought a threaded adaptor from the Snap-On dealer that threads onto the slide hammer shaft, and the other threaded end is the same pitch and diameter as the threaded part of the axle. I welded two axle nuts together, so I can screw this onto the axle shaft, then the puller onto the exposed nut. A couple whacks with the slide hammer and the axle is out.
I have pics of this process somewhere, I'll post them if I locate them.
That's ingenious, John. I've been celebrating MK's birthday this weekend, but tomorrow I plan to try the "brake drum as axle puller" trick. I'm not going to go crazy - even the author of that article said it only worked on one axle - because I don't want to risk damaging the drum. If I'm not successful, might you be able to locate that adapter? I'd like to rent it from you if possible.
