Diff unit oil seal

chips01 · Post by **chips01** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:08 pm

I am so hoping the answer will be yes.

Can the oil seal, diff unit to prop shaft, in my diff unit be replaced with the axle and diff unit still in place ? Please say that it is.

Many thanks for your time.

Keith

ard126k · Post by **ard126k** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:38 pm

Yes. Make sure the car is well supported as you will have to pull hard on the big nut to get the flange loose. Mark the position of the nut relative to the shaft as it has to go back in exactly the same place. You may need a puller to get the flange off. After replacing the seal tighten the nut to its original position - it's tight!
Alex.

chips01 · Post by **chips01** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:42 pm

ard126k wrote: ↑
Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:38 pm
Yes. Make sure the car is well supported as you will have to pull hard on the big nut to get the flange loose. Mark the position of the nut relative to the shaft as it has to go back in exactly the same place. You may need a puller to get the flange off. After replacing the seal tighten the nut to its original position - it's tight!
Alex.

Excellent. That was the reply I was hoping for. Stupid thing is I ordered a replacement seal before asking this question. Many thanks.

Post by **Coupe Racing** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:50 pm

There is also now the option to fit a modern rubber type radial seal rather than the leather on , however there are 2 sizes dependant upon the diameter of the pinion

Post by **peter freeman** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:05 pm

I use a bar trapped between the flange ( held on with two of the bolts )and the ground so as to get enough leverage to unscrew the nut. It takes a lot of torque to get it loose.

Post by **Old and Slow** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:54 pm

When I did this a while back (under the car), after getting the nut off and pulling out the flange, I didn't find a way of extracting the old seal in one piece; is there an easy way? Bit late for me, but I'd like to know....
(I wanted to compare the old and new, just to be sure I had the right replacement part).

Post by **Oldconn** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:03 pm

I use a slide-hammer. Local suppliers had never heard of one, so I made one, and found it useful for many other jobs - like pulling the seals out of the rear hubs. Just a piece of steel rod with a bent end , ground to a hook shape, with a sliding weight on it , passed through a piece of tube which you hold, and a big nut welded on the other end to keep the tube on. This nut takes the impact when you slide the weight back .

Post by **Nigel Clark** » Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:19 pm

Once you have the flange removed from the pinion shaft (the advice above about how to do it is spot on) getting the old seal out doesn't needed to be pretty. Prise it out with a large screwdriver or one of those oil seal hooks. Just don't damage the casing where the new seal needs to fit. The old seal will likely be mangled in the process but that's not important.

Make certain the new seal goes in square. I used a wooden block to start tapping it into place with a mallet, then a suitably large socket to drift it fully into place.

Nigel