9 in. Pinion Yoke seal leak repair help

[BeasleyRB]

I have a pinion yoke seal leak. It isn't bad but I want to stop it. I will replace the seal but do you ever replace the yoke if it isn't broken? Does the surface of the yoke wear in the seal area to the point it will leak even with a new seal? I'm asking because a tab was broken off the yoke (that keeps the u-joint caps centered and in place) of the limited slip pumpkin I bought so I put a yoke in from another older rear end I had. I don't know, that thing might have had a million miles on it. In any case, I never did think the seal was snug enough so sure thing, it leaks a little. I'll buy the yoke if you guys think they wear out but won't spend the money if they don't.

Also, during the course of this I will lose most of the rear end oil. Do I need to put in another bottle of friction modifier when I add new oil? I'm doing this in the car so it won't lose all the oil.

I won't even get into the crush washer, pre load deal. I don't even know if it has a solid washer or crush washer. Crush I assume.

Any suggestions or help will be appreciated. I've never worked on rear ends to any extent at all. I drive my car about 2,000 miles a year and don't race it. This thing has been leaking a little for 3 or 4 years.

[Wbulk]

Yes, a bad Yoke sealing surface will wipe out a seal. I have had some success with a “ready sleeve.” It’s a thin sleeve that taps on over the seal surface of the Yoke. But if you are not familiar with the install process a new Yoke would be better. They make two width Yokes for the nine inch, so match up your existing one.

[Wbulk]

If I were doing it in the car I would take the pinion housing bearing assembly out and do it on a bench. Undo the bolts just behind the yoke and pull the assembly out. There are shims between the housing and the case. Make sure and don't lose them. They set the pinion depth. The oil seal is a big O-Ring around the bearing housing. You will see it when the housing comes out. When you put it back in put some lube on the O-Ring so you don't cut it. You can put the yoke in a big vise or holding fixture to undo the nut. It is easy to set the pre-load with it out to.

Wayne

[Rick Parker]

BeasleyRB

Setting up a rear end is not exteemly difficult, but it takes both some very Heavy Duty tools to tighten the pinion nut to the correct tightness. You will also need a good sized vise and an inch pound torque wrench to test the effort necessary to spin the pinion afterwards and before reinstallation. If you are truely unfamiliar with this sort of thing it would be best to hand it off to someone who is. Remove the 5 bolts and lever it out as needed with 2 flat blade screwdrivers. Retain the metal shims and use them all when reinstalling. Contact a business in your area that specializes in rear ends and differentials, thats who you want to assist you. Get a new rubber "O" ring and lubricate it before reinserting the assembly into the "Pumpkin". Get a Speedy Sleeve to give the seal a fresh surface to ride on.

[Jac Mac]

Be very careful should you attempt to remove the pinion & bearing carrier while leaving the Ring Gear & Head assy in situ, some ratios-not all- due to design/shape of the pinion teeth start to bind on the ring gear tooth profile just as the pinion is about to clear the tail bearing...this usually results in a small chip breaking off one of the pinion teeth... better to remove the whole diff head assy, and remove the ring gear first or at least move the ring gear out of mesh, thats the way it was designed to be done, sorry I cannot remember which ratios are the culprits...only the sinking feeling in my gut when it happened...