smnitWS6TA

I just got my TA back from having a new flywheel put in it and on the way home the pinion bearing goes out of the rear end. WTF?? Could this have been a result of something done at the shop? I know they shouldn't have touch the rear, but it all seems to wierd. I just got the rear put in two months ago, not a single problem till now, I even replaced all the seals when it was put in. Anyway, how hard is it to put in a pinion bearing?

BTW the rear end is a 3.23 posi, 700R4 Tranny, 305 tpi, slightly modded.

RB83L69

What makes you suspect that the pinion bearing (of which there are 2) is bad?

grumpygreaseape

bad rear ujoint can cause that-you say you put seals in it-tell me the procedure you used when you installed the pinion seal-im assuming here that the pinion seal was showing signs of leakage originally-2 months ago? im not one to point fingers so i need the info and we will guess from there.-doubt that it is the shop-diffs fail shortly after work you describe usually for 1 reason. where did the 2 month old rear come from? seeya

smnitWS6TA

okay, when I bought the rear end it was used, out of a 1990 camaro, i believe. The rear was in good condition, nothing wrong with it. I was in school at the time and didn't have time to fix it myself, so I took it to a guy's shop that I know. Anyway, when he was putting in the rear I told him to replace all of the seals just to make sure. I think it's the front pinion bearing that's out because the rear it leaking fluid (badly) from the front where the drive shaft enters the rear. when the car is driven (i only drove it far enough to put it on a trailer) I can hear a constant grinding, almost like a scraping noise. This is almost the exact same thing that happened to my old rear end, except my old one went out of the coarse of a month, it started with lots of whining in the rear and small leakage and ended up with a bad front pinion bearing and a ruined posi unit. This one went at one time, no warning, no prior leakage, no whining in the rear, nothing. The rear was perfect up until it broke. Thanks for any help you can give me.

grumpygreaseape

hate to say it most likely the guy who did the seal on the pinion probably did not re-establish the correct pre-load. its a picky thing anyhow can not go but a c-hair tighter than it was set at when the nut came off-use white out to ensure accuracy. plus if he replaced the seal usually he should include a disclaimer of some sort that its a dicey kind of job-a lot of shops wont do a pinion seal only, because of this kind of thing. but when he took on the job, a bearing inspection on the front p.brg. would have been simple to do. are ya hammering the diff.with h.p. or slicks and traction? can you check the free movement of the rear u joint and see if the pinion nut maybe didnt back off cuz no loctite red was applied check it for yourself in case he is the kind who will bury his tracks-find out what it looks like now and then talk to him. sorry dude bad situation now-it was a j-yard piece? no 30 feet or 30 second whichever comes first kind of warranty-usually there is something for a very limited time frame BUT. worth asking-did it get inspected with the cover off so a pattern could be quickly checked? most good wrecking yards do do that

smnitWS6TA

Well I don't have any slicks or extreme horsepower on the car, so I don't think that hurt it. I'm thinking the thing with the seal could be the cause of my problems. I had the inspection plate off yesterday and the pinion gears, ring gears and others are good, no chips or messed up teeth. As far as the seal goes, I didn't get a good look at it. I'm taking the car thursday to a friend of the family that runs a shop. I'll make sure that he nows about the seal and doesn't end up with the same problem again. If the seal did go bad as a result of over torqueing would that ruin the pinion bearings too? Is there anything else I should check before I get it all put back together?