Got some fun lined up for tomrrow.

[DeltaAir423]

I'm going to have to eat my Wheaties tomorrow morning. Lined up for my Spit. Drain and flush my brake and clutch hydraulics (looks like it might be DOT 3 in there), remove and replace my front pinion seal, remove and replace my right half shaft U-joint, and finally engine oil change.

Looks like a busy day tomorrow.

 

[Tomster]

OK I'll bite, what fluid do you flush a brake sytem with?

 

[tdskip]

What are you going to run for brake fluid?

Let us know if the Wheaties work...

 

[Tinster]

What is a front pinion seal?
How do you determine when it has failed?

thanks,

d

 

[guzzul]

What is a front pinion seal? How do you determine when it has failed?

Hey Dale. I'm assuming the seal on the differential pinion shaft. Failure usually means gear oil leaking out the front of the diff.

 

[NickMorgan]

What is a front pinion seal?
How do you determine when it has failed?

thanks,

d

Dale,
If you have a garage floor like mine, the dark patch nearest the front is oil leaking from the engine valve cover, the next one is from the engine rear seal. The third patch is gear oil from the gearbox rear seal and then the fourth is the pinion seal leak. The small one nearest the back is from the diff rear cover. This one can merge into patch number four so can sometimes be a little difficult to identify.
The occasional greeny-blue puddle at the front doesn't really count as that evaporates over time!
Nick

 

[TR3driver]

The occasional greeny-blue puddle at the front doesn't really count as that evaporates over time!

True, but the yellow one on the left leaves funny stains on the floor!

 

[Andrew Mace]

I'm going to have to eat my Wheaties tomorrow morning. Lined up for my Spit...remove and replace my front pinion seal....

Before you go to a lot of effort on that seal, make sure your leak isn't due to the vent being plugged up, causing excess pressure inside that tends to force the oil out the pinion seal. I seem to recall that the late diffs had some sort of one-time 'crush-washer' there, and that care needs to be taken to tighten up exactly to the spec that it took to loosen it, or replace the crush washer, etc., etc., lest other problems develop.

Or I could be all wrong. But find that vent first and make sure it's not just gunked up!

This image from Rimmer Bros. should give you a rough idea what you're looking for; look for "PC34." If that pin is clean and free to move up and down, then you might actually have a bad pinion seal.

 

[DeltaAir423]

Well got the U-joint and engine oil changed. Then it started to look like rain (aka my knees and hips started screaming in pain), so I packed it up for the day. Tomorrow I'll get at the brakes and checking out the breather before I tear the front of the diff apart.

For a flushing agent, I'll be using denatured alcohol since it's a "neutral" cleaner. DOT-5 will be going back in.


ETA, mind you I'm doing all this outside and under jackstands.

 

[MGTF1250Dave]

Aloha Nick,

I got a chuckle from your guide to identification of fluid leaks. Those fluids are also a part of a cleaver chassis and under carriage preservation system. As the car travels at road speed, the leaking oil is spread evenly over the under side of the car and this thin coating protects against corrosion.