Front Pinion Seal
 

Anyone change one out yet? Mine's dripping all of the sudden. I'm glad to see that's actually what it was versus something else. My first htought was crankcase vent tube from injector dumping into the crankcase. Anyway, do these have crush sleeves in them? Does the pinion nut need to be preloaded to set the sleeve? I have only been into 80's and 90's GM stuff. I'll probably figure it out but just don't want any surprises. Thanks.

BTW, warranty expired on the 36 month 2 months ago. 31k on the truck.:argh:

you can download some info cheap here

http://www.4x4repairmanuals.com/2003...%20Manuals.htm

Thanks, looks like the one I need they will have soon.

here's the specs alldata has for the pinion crush sleeve. it doesn't say anything about having to replace the crush sleeve when you replace the pinion seal.

o New Pinion Bearings: 1.7 - 2.8 Nm (15 - 25 inch lbs.)
o Original Pinion Bearings: 1.1 - 2.2 Nm (10 - 20 inch lbs.)

that's of course with the diff case out and just the pinion turning.

you probably know this already but when i've done pinion seals i've always marked the nut and the pinion with a chisel. then i removed the nut and yoke. when tightening up the nut i would just keep going until the marks lined up. most impact guns will start to struggle when the nut gets close to being tight. that's when you stop and see where your marks are.

i know it's not the exact science method but if you pay attention while doing it you won't screw it up.

i usually tighten to my mark and then a little past, very little past....

The info I have is vague so far. It says to tighten 2 inch pounds past what it took to rotate the assembly upon removal. It doesn't make sense to me. I was successful once or twice with reusing the crush sleeve by retightening a smidge past the marks on GM stuff. A couple of times though the nut would back off and a new sleeve had to be used. I may just whack at this weekend.

On a lighter note, I got my rear door power lock figured and fixed.:U: One down one to go.:pca1:

You should be able to load any of those 3rd gen manuals and get the correct loads...the 9.25 hasn't changed since it was intro'd as far as I'm aware.

There are two methods...the older style you find the pinion bearing preload by spinning the pinion (without the carrier) and then make sure you hit the same mark when you reinstall the pinion nut. The other method is simply make sure the pinion is reinstalled to the correct torque.

My only bit of advice is make sure yu use a NEW pinion nut. I learned this the hard way after Dodge reinstalled the old nut on my 1500 and the nut backed off...10k later, and I was rebuilding the read diff again.

steved