tobymack
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| posted on 10/1/07 at 06:58 PM |
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strange diff leak
I have had a slight weep from the nose of my diff (english) for a while. I assumed it was the pinion oil seal and I had somehow bodged fitting it.
However, I removed the prop and found a fair amount of oil had collected between the diff and prop flanges. So the oil must be coming out between the
pinion shaft splines and the flange.
Is there supposed to be some sort of seal here or does it rely on the nut to seal it? Anyone come accross this one before?
BR,
Toby
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phil m
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| posted on 10/1/07 at 08:23 PM |
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Snap - exactly the same problem. I took the nut off at the weekend and the flange and replaced them- waiting for drips!!   
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Peteff
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| posted on 10/1/07 at 10:56 PM |
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Is the breather clear?
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Chippy
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| posted on 10/1/07 at 11:51 PM |
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Easiest way to fix the problem is to remove the nut and washer, apply a liberal amount of liquid gasket to the thread, and face of the flange, and
then bolt it all back together. Job done. HTH, Ray
To make a car go faster, just add lightness. Colin Chapman - OR - fit a bigger engine. Chippy
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02GF74
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| posted on 11/1/07 at 08:53 AM |
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quote: Originally posted by tobymack
I have had a slight weep from the nose of my diff (english) for a while. I assumed it was the pinion oil seal and I had somehow bodged fitting
it.
I think ^^^^ is your answer.
from memory, the pinon has a metal collar thingy that helps the seal so oil can collect in there.
Remove and refit new one - use the old one as a drift or a v. arge socket or block of wood shaped tp fit inside the dif. (I've done it so it is
a piece of pi$$)
you can re-use the crush tube if you count the the tiems you undo the nut or else you can lengthend the tube - place it over a sturdy round steel bar
and hammer on the ends to thin them down - this makes the overall tube longer - they do up the preload - if you don;t know the number,s ask me & I
did it up.
I went through all this as the nut was not doewn up on mine so the drive flange was flopping about - probably didn't need to do the tube
elongation part.
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tobymack
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| posted on 11/1/07 at 10:29 AM |
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I could just use sealant but I don't remember that being ford practice so I thought something else might be wrong.
I'll check the breather- thanks for that suggestion.
02GF74: I am not sure I understand you. Which bit are you talking about replacing? The pinion and shaft itself or the seal or what? I'll have a
look at the manual again tonight to see if I can make sense of it.
BR
Toby
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Chippy
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| posted on 11/1/07 at 11:13 PM |
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You can get oil migrate down the splines, even though they are a fairly good fit. This is why using the liquid gasket, (see above), does the trick.
The one thing that is essential is that there must be a washer under the nut, so that it can seal the end of the splines. HTH Ray.
To make a car go faster, just add lightness. Colin Chapman - OR - fit a bigger engine. Chippy
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britishtrident
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| posted on 12/1/07 at 04:16 PM |
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MAJOR WARNING
****** Don't take the nut off *****
Only take the nut that holds the pinion flange off if you know what you are doing AND have the new seal ready to fit.
I have posted the "in service" procedure for replacing a pinion oil seal on a Ford engish or most other hypoid axles many times do a
search and read and understand the procedure before touching the nut or you will end up replacing the crush washer or worse being forced into doing a
full rebuild.
Don't muck about with hypoid final drives unless you really know what you are doing
Most oil leaks from Ford axles are due to a combination ofover filling and blocked breathers --- obvious but only check the level via the plug when
the car is level both fore and aft and left to right AND allow any over fill to drain off.
[Edited on 12/1/07 by britishtrident]
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coozer
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| posted on 12/1/07 at 05:22 PM |
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Good call britishtrident,
Why do people feel the need to take the flange off? If the seal is not leaking there's no benefit and can cause considerable harm to your wallet
later on.
Its easier to get a new diff. Just take them off the donor and bolt them in your motor...
vroom vroom   
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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tobymack
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| posted on 13/1/07 at 05:12 PM |
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I'd only take the flange of if I had a problem. Which in this case I appear to have...
Fitting a spare diff would indeed be easier, I even have one in my shed. Unfortunately the spare one doesn't have an ATB fitted...
Seriously though. Yes a good warning. However, in my case I have already rebuilt the diff once so I doubt I will make it worse taking it apart again

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procomp
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| posted on 13/1/07 at 09:00 PM |
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Hi as said above if you ever remove the nut it will require a rebuild as the unit using the crushable spacer is a once only fit.
When you get oil leaks down the spline or a loose nut it is ussually because the spacer has continued to crush during use so the diff needs a rebuild
anyhow before you scrap the crown wheel or pinion.
cheers matt
PS expected prices for a rebuild should be roughly £100 depending on bearings required.
For a rebuild with all the trick little mods to make it last longer and take more abuse ussualy £120 Ish.
plenty of companys and people around who can reliably do the job but also an awful lot of people and companys that bodge it so carfull research if
having a rebuild.
[Edited on 13/1/07 by procomp]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 14/1/07 at 12:06 PM |
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Replacing the oil seal is a very easy job I used to do them in 15 minutes back in the hay days of the Mk1/MK2 Escort vans but it isn't simply a
case of undoing the nut pulling the flange changing the seal and tightening up the nut.
The nut that holds the flange is used to load the crush washer which adjusts the pinnion. Also the procedure for setting up with a new crush washer
can't be used with a used crush washer.
The full procedure varies between axle types but following "in service" procedure will work on any final drive.
The main thing you have to watch is that you don't squeeze the crush washer when retightening the nut,
Clearly mark the nut, pinion shaft and flange before you start and count the EXACT number of turns required to undo the nut. It is best not to use a
socket for this job but a large offset ring spanner so you can see the marks clearly. Remove flange and lever out seal with a screw driver. Then
carefully old seal press the new one home using a very large socket as a tup, replace flange and refit the nut using Locktite retighten using exactly
the same number of turns until the marks align exactly.
[Edited on 14/1/07 by britishtrident]
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