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[amba]

Noticed I have a far accumilation of oil around the diff where prop shaft joins and am suspecting the diff oil pinion seal is at fault.

I read the excellent "how to " in the maintenance section compiled by MarkDTM on replcing it,but looks like an there is an area with torque settings that could get a bit beyond me.

If I asked local garage to price for work with me supplying parts,what would be considered as a reasonable time/labour charge for this work,as think it should be looked at sooner than later as quite alot is also on the exhaust bend .

[amba]

    VAUXHALL REAR AXLE PINION HOUSING WITH OIL SEAL
Part Number: 90522521


Not sure If I have found the correct part here so any advise greatly appreciated.

Looks like this comes with housing and seal,so will I still have issues trying to get the preload back on the centre fixing nut as I won,t have a reference point on the new unit.

[Marks DTM Calib]

As per the maintenance guide, you are not measuring a torque value, you are simply tightening the pinion nut to the same point that it was removed from (hence the need to centre dot various points and count turns) as this is the only way of getting the same pre-load on the bearing.

The seal comes in a small metal outer carrier.

[amba]

Is it easier to replace the seal within the pinion housing as per part list I found or is there another seal that also requires replacing.

Question was if I replaced the housing with the seal already fitted how would I get a reference point to retighten the nut too as the old housing would then not be being fitted.

Also how complicated is this job really and what sort of time is involved in changing it over.

[Kevin Wood]

The seal comes in a metal carrier that presses into the diff casing, as Mark says. This is integral to the seal and the two can't be separated. It's £16.64 + VAT (andyc price) for the whole assembly, IIRC. Sounds like you have the correct part, TBH.

All you have to do is mark the relationship between the pinion nut, propshaft flange and pinion shaft and count the turns on the thread so the whole lot goes back together maintaining the original preload. The seal housing doesn't get in the way of this at all.

[amba]

Thanks for clarrifying it,Kevin.

Might just give it a go then as expect garage will want silly money for labour only.

[Andy H]

The input spider is an extremely tight fit on the splines. Several years ago I let my local tyre & MOT place change the pinion seal for me on my Carlton. (they assured me they knew about the 'crush spacer' ).

When I went to collect it they gleefully told me that they had to use their big hydraulic puller to get the spider off but looked blank when I quizzed them about counting the turns on the retaining nut. I drove 10 miles to work and something smelled very hot. I drove 10 miles back to the garage and spent the rest of the afternoon explaining to them how they had turned an oily diff into a scrap diff.

Good Luck......

[amba]

After reading that Andy H don,t think it will be going anywhere near an un-educated mechanic but unsure it will be me who attempts this.

Any idea on what would be a fair labour time for this to be replaced by somebody who understands what is involved.

[Marks DTM Calib]

40-60 minutes.

There not that tight a fit on the splines, you can get them off with a three legged or even using the prop shat and bolts

[amba]

Just wanted to check that is really a D.I.Y jobbie.?

Have phoned two seperate garages this morning just to see if they would do the job as for the quoted 40-60 mins it seemed almost worth the labour charge against the hassle of me doing it.

Both have stated that they would ....remove the diff completly..send it off to a specialist for the internals to be corrected and upon its return refit the dif.1 guy I spoke to even suggested fitting a brand new diff as his logic was that if it had been leaking oil for anytime the internals would be worn.

Now on a car that is 13 years old and has covered over 185k miles is this not a case of totally going over the top ?...I accept that they have a risk that I will bring the car back after a few miles ,if they only replace the seal,and say its making noises and I want it fixed foc,but is this really such a complicated and risky job.

My mind really does now need putting to rest as I will attempt this but want to be clear of the issues I may face.

P/S...it won,t be going to either of the 2 garages I have rung this morning though.!!

[Marks DTM Calib]

It is easy.

What I would say on the removal etc is, the key item that you need to be aware of on this job is the pinion bearing pre-load.

Now clearly, we are only changing a seal which is independent of the bearing setup.

Hence the need to mark things up and re-fit in the same position with the same number of turns on the nut.

As for the oil loss, the amount actualy lost is generaly pretty small and the diff does not suffer as a result (unless its been like it for years and years!).

The basic approach is, disconnect prop and remove the rubber donut.

Centre dot the nut, shaft and coupling

Remove the pinion nut (hand brake on and a 30mm deep socket plus breaker bar) counting the number of turns as you go.

Pull the coupling off the pinion shaft (medium size puller or use the prop and bolt technique....slower but works).

Catch the oil is it drops (you only loose some but be aware of it).

Pull the old seal out

Fit the new seal (the old seal works ok as a drift to fit the new one in)

Clean the coupling surface where the seal mates with very fine wet and dry.

Smear some grease on the enw seal face.

Re-fit the coupling.

Tighten the nut the correct number of turns.

Re-fit the prop and donut.

Top the oil in the diff up.

[amba]

Thanks for your concise accurate details,Mark.

Will have a look next week and will get on to AndyC at the same time to order up the seal for me.