Replacing a pinion seal on a 489 carrier?

[Demonic]

So, I have a leak at the pinion seal. The FSM has a procedure - check the rotating torque in in.lbs without the wheels/drums, r & R the real, retorque to X not to exceed the initial reading, etc. Has anyone ever done this successfully?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

As I'm sure you know the 489 has a crush sleeve so it's much more critical than a 741 or 742....

Personally I mark the nut & the end of the shaft so it can be put back to the exact original position... The yoke doesn't need to be clocked back to the same place but the nut does....

In order to make sure the nut stays where you put it when reinstalling it I use red loctite (271)...

 

[Ray70Chrg]

hey demonic, The 489 is a pia because of the crush can that used to preload the pinion bearing. When the can was 1st crushed I believe the initial tq was something like 240 f/lbs. If you have all the needed tools then go ahead and use the procedure. I don't know anyone that's used it. If you investigate some of the threads here there is plenty of advice on how to do it. For me it boiled down to tightening the pinion nut to 170 f/lbs. Being under the car with limited space and angles I could barely get a little more than about 165 lbs. I do have a slight clunk once in awhile when auto trans is shifting from 1st to 2nd at around 15mph. Good enough for now, I got bigger problems than that to get after. I'm not recommending this to you. This is what I did. Hopefully somebody can give you better advice.

 

[493 Mike]

I like to add a .010 shim between the front bearing cone and the end of the crush sleeve. That will let you crush the sleeve a tiny bit more and compensate for any bearing wear. You will see in the FSM, different specifications for new or used bearings.
Mike

 

[dvw]

The shim idea is interesting. Do get a proper torque read the ring gear should be out of the equation. I did a ton of Chevy pinion seal when I worked at the dealer. They all had a crush sleeve. Mark the nut and get it to there. Then I'd hit them with the impact gun a little at a time until I could just fell drag during rotation. Never had one come back.
Doug

 

[Darter6]

^^^^ Yeah, tricks of the trade !

 

[YY1]

I did it a long time ago and I didn't mark the nut although that's a great idea, I just got a feel for the torque of the nut then re-seated it to where I thought it was without any additional crush to the sleeve.

Did fine with no leaks and no discernible wear for at least 3 years until I sold the car.