Topic: 65 driveshaft spraying fluid

[Chris]

Found an issue with my driveshaft while I had the car on the lift. There appears to be fluid being sprayed in an arc above the driveshaft, where it mates to the rear end (see pictures). What would cause this and how difficult is this to repair? This is for a June 64 260 V8 car.

Thanks.

[carlite65]

most likely a bad pinion seal in the rear end. not too difficult to fix. you'll need a new seal and a new pinion nut.

[J_Speegle]

most likely a bad pinion seal in the rear end. not too difficult to fix. you'll need a new seal and a new pinion nut.

+1  not the driveline. Pretty typical to see

[Chris]

Thanks. I'll try changing the pinion seal and nut and report back how it goes.

[midlife]

I had the same problem, but not as bad.  At first, I thought it was the u-joint that was throwing out the fluid.

When changing the pinion seal, be very careful and first mark the nut location.  There's a crush sleeve underneath it that normally should be replaced, but you can also get away with tightening everything up to where it was and going about 1/16 of a turn more.  The pre-load needed on the carrier requires a torque on the crush sleeve to be about 175 ft-lbs, IIRC.  That's if you install it new.  A smidgen past tight is all you need if you reuse the crush sleeve.

[Chris]

Should I replace anything besides the pinion seal? Can this be done without any special tools?

My car down shifts hard going into low gear when stopping. Does the same thing when put into reverse. Just wondering if more is going on than the seal being bad.

[midlife]

Sounds more like a bad transmission or u-joints.  When the car is up in the air, you can check for backlash of the driveshaft to the wheels through the rear carrier; something on the order of a few degrees is acceptable.  If excessive, you can remove the driveshaft on one end and re-check to see where the excessive backlash is to isolate it to the u-joint, carrier, or front u-joint.

[CW4macret]

Hard down shift to 1st and reverse sounds like band adjustment. The same band locks the 1st/reverse clutch pack.

[Chris]

So does anyone know the procedure for changing out the pinion seal and the torque values for the nut (saw 175 ft pounds above)? If you mark the nut placement, what is this marked/referenced against? I don't have my shop manual and I'm down in Tampa FL for the next few months.

I read that the crush sleeve and pinion bearings should be replaced as well.

For the hard shifting, I had replaced the u-joints when the transmission was rebuilt, si I'm not sure what the cause of the hard shifting is.

[carlite65]

when you install a new seal use a new nut & torque to 125 ft. lbs. that will keep you from having to use a new crush sleeve. i have done this numerous times with great success.

[Chris]

The "clunking" sound I'm getting when first putting the car in reverse and when coming to a stop makes me thing there is more wrong with the rear end than just the leak. I replaced the u-joints not long ago. I'm thinking I should replace the pinion bearings, so this would mean crush sleeve as well. I want to stop the leak, but I'd like to be rid of the harsh clunk at the same time.

Any advise on the procedures for replacing the pinion bearings, crush sleeve, and pinion seal? I've not seen a clear procudure and I don't have my shop manual. I want to avoid taking this to a rear end shop and paying a lot to have this fixed.

[Chris]

I had the car on the lift again this past weekend and replaced the pinion seal. It was not too bad, the yoak came out by hand after removing the pinion nut. I counted the threads that were showing before I removed the nut and yoak. I ended up torquing the pinion nut down to 175 foot pounds (not easy to do even on the lift). There was still some play between the driveshaft and yoak when I rocked the wheels back and forth on the lift. When I moved the yoak and drive shaft by spinning the wheeel a little, then reversed direction, the play was about 1/2 inch. I have a video clip, so sure we can post them. I'll check that the seal is holding this coming weekend.