1970 Mach 1, 351W auto. Engine, transmission, and drive shaft are currently out of the car while I'm having everything rebuilt. Car sat for 10 + years before I got my grubby paws on, so of course, everything leaks. It has a copious leak from the pinion seal.
I've never done any work on a Ford rear end before, but I'm a quick study and do everything else myself. How difficult is it to replace, and can someone give me a crash course? I don't know if the car is a 8" or 9" rear end....any easy way to tell the difference, and does it make a difference on the seal replacement?
I'm planning on buttoning everything up by April 1 and having the car awaken from it's long slumber....any help is appreciated.
I had recently learned that you can tell an 8" from a 9" MOST OF THE TIME...not all the time apparently...by these two traits...
When you go to the back of your car and look at the rear end, the 9" will have a bulge on the back of the pumpkin. Also on a 9", the bottom bolt looks hard to get a socket on and will need a wrench.
An 8" will not have this bulge and will be able to get a socket on all bolts.
I had a massive leak from the pinion a while back and did not have the tools or know how to fix it. Unfortunately, I had to take it to a shop.
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1966 coupe "patina finish" ~ 302 ~ 5spd
2006 convertible redfire and tan ~ 4.0 ~ auto
If you don't have a pneumatic impact driver, you can use a breaker bar & length of pipe for leverage to remove the center nut.
You will need to keep the wheels from turning.
The easiest way is to set the parking/emergency brakes.
I had recently learned that you can tell an 8" from a 9" MOST OF THE TIME...not all the time apparently...by these two traits...
When you go to the back of your car and look at the rear end, the 9" will have a bulge on the back of the pumpkin. Also on a 9", the bottom bolt looks hard to get a socket on and will need a wrench.
An 8" will not have this bulge and will be able to get a socket on all bolts.
I had a massive leak from the pinion a while back and did not have the tools or know how to fix it. Unfortunately, I had to take it to a shop.
If you don't have a pneumatic impact driver, you can use a breaker bar & length of pipe for leverage to remove the center nut.
You will need to keep the wheels from turning.
The easiest way is to set the parking/emergency brakes.
Excellent.....thanks to both of you. I do have a compressor and impact wrench. Car is up on stands at the moment, but can get the wife to stand on the brakes while I break it loose.
Before you hit it with an impact gun remember that you will need to reset the amount of torque on the crush collar "exactly" where it was set previously...One way of doing that is marking the nut with paint or whatever and counting the exact amount of turns to remove the nut so you can tighten it back the same amount...That is hard to do obviously with an impact gun...One other tip is to put some sealer on the splines of the pinion shaft before you reinstall the yoke..Oil can leak along the splines as well if you don't.
EDIT...Looks like he covered that pretty well in the video.
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One way of doing that is marking the nut with paint or whatever and counting the exact amount of turns to remove the nut so you can tighten it back the same amount...
Only way to fly for diy disassembly/reassembly seal replacement IMO...count the turns...otherwise replace the crush sleave and set correct bearing preload according to in-lb method of measuring the rotation force it takes to turn the axles.
You can fab a flat piece of steel with a half moon cut out and two holes to bolt to the u-joint saddle/mount that bolts to the pinion gear. The cutout lets you mount a socket, breaker bar, and cheater pipe if necessary to loosen the nut. Have a buddy hold the flat steel jig to keep the pinion gear from rotating while you break free the nut. Good luck
Replacing the pinion seal is quick and easy. Takes under 2 hours. Cost you a seal and a nut.
Too easy.
Remove the drive shaft.
Remove the pinion nut.
Remove the pinion yoke, clean seal surface.
Remove the seal.
Clean seal bore and pinion shaft threads.
Install new seal.
Lubricate seal surface of pinion yoke with gear oil, and install.
Install a new pinion yoke nut, and torque to 125 ft-lbs.
Install the drive shaft.
You can easily make a tool to hold the pinion yoke while removing or installing the pinion yoke, but even a large pipe wrench will do.
This trick eliminates the need for a new crush collar, which is especially good news for 6 cyl owners, since the 7" collar is not available anywhere. The 125 torque is far less than the 175 spec, so it does not further compress the collar. Using a new nut assures the accuracy and reliability of the 125 torque.
Oddly, Ford has been using the same nut for all pinion yokes since 1957, whether it was a dinky six-cylinder or a BOSS. Even the 8.8 in the late models uses it.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
Thanks again to all. I will just mark the nut and count the turns. I have a HUGE 3/4" torque wrench that I use for a breaker. Shouldn't present any problems.
Driveshaft is already out...spent today pounding out the U-joints that were seized in place, scraping 42 years of grease off, and painting the driveshaft. Tomorrow will pick up some U-joints and put the driveshaft back together, and pick up a new pinion seal too.
Machine shop is building me a new 351W short block next week. I want this car to awaken from it's slumber by late summer....
Last edited by Frizlefrak; 02-11-2012 at 09:09 PM.
Replacing the pinion seal is quick and easy. Takes under 2 hours. Cost you a seal and a nut.
Too easy.
Remove the drive shaft.
Remove the pinion nut.
Remove the pinion yoke, clean seal surface.
Remove the seal.
Clean seal bore and pinion shaft threads.
Install new seal.
Lubricate seal surface of pinion yoke with gear oil, and install.
Install a new pinion yoke nut, and torque to 125 ft-lbs.
Install the drive shaft.
You can easily make a tool to hold the pinion yoke while removing or installing the pinion yoke, but even a large pipe wrench will do.
This trick eliminates the need for a new crush collar, which is especially good news for 6 cyl owners, since the 7" collar is not available anywhere. The 125 torque is far less than the 175 spec, so it does not further compress the collar. Using a new nut assures the accuracy and reliability of the 125 torque.
Oddly, Ford has been using the same nut for all pinion yokes since 1957, whether it was a dinky six-cylinder or a BOSS. Even the 8.8 in the late models uses it.
Thanks. This is my next project.
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68'Coupe: Edelbrock Performer Package, Mallory Unilite, ceramic Tri-Y's into Flowmaster 50's, 620 1" drop coils, 5-leaf mid-eyes, Shelby drop.
Counting turns/threads will work fine when reusing a crush sleeve, but I would not necessarily disregard "inch-pound" preload measures either...it's good to be familiar with the technique...
Replacing the pinion seal is quick and easy. Takes under 2 hours. Cost you a seal and a nut.
Too easy.
Remove the drive shaft.
Remove the pinion nut.
Remove the pinion yoke, clean seal surface.
Remove the seal.
Clean seal bore and pinion shaft threads.
Install new seal.
Lubricate seal surface of pinion yoke with gear oil, and install.
Install a new pinion yoke nut, and torque to 125 ft-lbs.
Install the drive shaft.
You can easily make a tool to hold the pinion yoke while removing or installing the pinion yoke, but even a large pipe wrench will do.
This trick eliminates the need for a new crush collar, which is especially good news for 6 cyl owners, since the 7" collar is not available anywhere. The 125 torque is far less than the 175 spec, so it does not further compress the collar. Using a new nut assures the accuracy and reliability of the 125 torque.
Oddly, Ford has been using the same nut for all pinion yokes since 1957, whether it was a dinky six-cylinder or a BOSS. Even the 8.8 in the late models uses it.
+1... this is how I did mine prior to installing a new center section last year...metthod woeks great and is easy....
tom
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Pinion Seal replacement.
