Hi guys just noticed my axle leaking from the front of the diff, does anybody know where i can get the diff gasket and oil seal from also how hard is it to change

regards

mark

Is it leaking from the pinion seal behind the prop flange, or from the gasket between the axle casing and the cast diff nose?

If the latter then its pretty easy to sort although you'll need a slide hammer or similar to remove the halfshafts, then you can unbolt and remove the diff nose having disconnected the prop. The only snag you may find is that you dont have room in front of the diff nose to get the diff out, which means you'll need to unbolt the whole axle and best case move it back in the chassis a bit and rotate it downwards, worse case take it completely out of the car.

If the pinion oil seal has gone then you need to undo the bolt that holds the prop flange on, but by undoing that I think you upset the pre-load on the bearing / pinion so should really get the gear mesh set back up by someone who knows how to if you dont have dial guages etc to do it yourself.

Chris

Hi as Chriss^^ has said. The reason its leaking through the seal ( if it is at the front seal and not the gasket face) is because the spacer has continued to compress and the play on the bearings is now allowing the oil to come through the seal.

Means a rebuild inc new spacer and seal.

cheers matt

Fast track bearings, see them ebay or 01902 495250

Undo the flange locknut and make note of how many turns, replace seal & tigten locknut up to same plus 1/4 turn

thanks guys its leaking from the front pinion seal will have a look at Fast track bearings, just thought i would have to change take diff apart to do it but sounds fairly easy to sort

Hi Ernie you can not do that. The reason it's leaking is because the crushable spacer has continued to compress.

It needs a new spacer and resetting. Or it will after a few miles when the new seal has lost its suppleness just leak Again as you have not curred the problem of to much play on the bearings and preload. No to mention you will run the risk of buggering up the crown wheel and pinion mesh.

cheers matt

hi guys got the axle out and oil seal out it was very brittle and just age that has weakened it the actual rubber was delaminated from the metal, however the nut wasnt very tight at all is there a torque setting or does it have to now be set up again.

thanks

mark

Hi the reason the nut is not tight is becuace the spacer has continued to compress and left the bearings/nut with no preload. Needs new spacer and rebuild.

There is no torque setting it is done up untill the bearing preload is correct.

cheers matt

Yep as Matt says, there's a crushable spacer in there thats single use only, you do the nut up and crush the spacer until the pinion gear meshes properly with the crown wheel, then leave it there. Over time and with load, the spacer gradually wears / crushes a little more and you end up with slack in the system that could damage the CWP and tends to end up making the seal leak.

What some racers do (not tried it myself) is to set the diff up with a crushable spacer, then immediately undo it again, measure the spacer and turn up a new spacer from steel exactly the same thickness, then rebuild again with this new steel spacer that will not wear / crush further over time, so should be more reliable.

Chris

Sod it! have I buggered up my diff then? What is needed to set it up properly and is it worth buying if I'm set to last another 2 seasons in locost

do i need to completely rebuild the diff or just take the front bearing out and put new spacer in ?? dont really want it leaking again soon would really be a pain in the rear

Whenever you undo the front bolt retaining the prop flange, you should replace the crushable spacer and you should have the gear meshing set back up again.

You might be lucky and do the nut up the right amount to crush the spacer to the correct thickness to give good mesh, but its pure lottery and unlikely to happen, so you're likely to end up with increased diff noise / wear of some degree or other.

If you buy an Mk2 Escort Haynes manual it describes how to do it but to be honest you're better off getting someone who knows how to set it up as its a bit of an art and as mentioned, needs dial guages etc to do properly.

Ernie - as mentioned if you just do it up again you're changing the mesh of the pinion against the crown wheel. You may get away with just a little added wear on the gears so it depends on how much you value your diff really. If its a simple open diff that can be replaced for ~£50 then you may think its worth the risk as its unlikely (although not impossible) to cause a catastrophic failure, and getting it properly rebuilt / set up will cost maybe £80-100 from somewhere like Road and Race.

[Edited on 2/9/07 by ChrisGamlin]