left halfshaft seal

[masalacobra]

My left half shaft seal is leaking. Accessed everything and now I'm stuck on how to actually take the seal out w/o damaging anything. Did a search and read on a termy post about a "seal driver?" Could that be used to remove as well, if so where can I get this driver from???????

Also, anyone know best place to get this seal from aside from Ford?

Thanks
~Alex

 

[arturo3rd]

you mean the boot? you can just buy a replacement boot and re-pack it it grease. from my reading on the subject these boots sometimes leak too.

i went ahead and had the whole half shaft replaced with a rebuilt one sold at oreily auto parts (came with a warranty) for $69 after you return the core.

 

[ac427cobra]

Is this the seal coming out of the diff housing!?!? :shrug:

 

[masalacobra]

No no, not the boot. When you take off the actual halfshaft w/ boot out of the diff there's a seal there. Well anyways I just went to Ford and got a new seal for $15. The seal just sits in there but I had to pry it out. New seal is in place now so imma put it all back together. Just didn't know if there was some sort of seal puller or deal to do it with. All is well. Thanks

 

[ac427cobra]

Lubricate the I.D of the seal and O.D. of the shaft before insertion! Just like sex! ;-)

 

[01greycobra]

ahh the axle shaft seal. mine was leaking after i got my gears installed. bought a 10 dollar federal mogul seal and have not looked back since. (over a year ago)

 

[masalacobra]

What's up guys,

Good to know that these threads don't get deleted all that fast. I finished this seal change last month, leak is fixed but............ I ran into a problem. Right after I did it, I started to get gear whine! I just keep hitting dead end after dead end.

Anyways, theoretically, could I have pushed the seal in too far? Before taking the old out I saw it is just flush with the housing of the rear diff.. So with a flat piece of wood, I lightly tapped the NEW seal into position. That is exactly what I did. Put the halfshaft carefully back in (w/ help) and bolted everything back down.

What the hell did I miss? I'm getting really frustrated with having 1 problem after another. Just want it to be a simple fix with careful consideration to detail of course. But I don't understand why I'm getting gear whine now.

To describe the whine........ Everyone knows what a stock 03 Cobra supercharger sounds like. Tone it down a few decibels and you're at where my rear end is whining.

Any help is good..let me know!

Since then I haven't driven my car... Summer classes started and I'm stuck driving something else.

 

[masalacobra]

Anyone?

 

[scotts99snake]

No, I don't think it is possible to push the seal in too far. Besides, the whine would be coming from the mesh between the ring and pinion gears. I don't see how the axle seal could be related. Unless you want to have the gears checked out, and the whine isn't super annoying, I would make sure the fluid is ok and live with it. I realize this may not be the "right" thing to do, but gears and cheap and installation is not.
How were the carrier bearings when you had the gears installed?

 

[masalacobra]

I bought the car with 4:10s installed so I'm not sure about the quality of the bearings. But the sound only came AFTER my seal change. I wanted to know if there was something I overlooked when removing/ installing the half shaft back into the rear diff. Two months ago I put the rear diff brace on. I checked the fluid last week and it's topped off good. At around 40mph it's a high pitched low volume sound. The faster I go the louder it gets. I'm not saying I don't want to drive it but.....damn..if something is going on that anyone has noticed in past rear diff work yall have done let me know I'll check it out.

 

[masalacobra]

I read the article posted here on half shaft change. http://www.lx.net/jlynch/pumpkin.htm

It says, "...You will feel it click into place and the clearance between the ABS sensor and the pumpkin case will be the same as it was before you removed the half-shaft." What click?

 

[ac427cobra]

I read the article posted here on half shaft change. http://www.lx.net/jlynch/pumpkin.htm

It says, "...You will feel it click into place and the clearance between the ABS sensor and the pumpkin case will be the same as it was before you removed the half-shaft." What click?

The halfshaft will click into the differential when you install it. Hence the need to 'pop' it out with a prybar upon removal.

 

[masalacobra]

The halfshaft will click into the differential when you install it. Hence the need to 'pop' it out with a prybar upon removal.

If it doesn't make that pop/click... what are the effects? Basically the bolts to the lower and upper A-arms connecting the axle/hub/etc won't line up right?

If true then I guess I didn't hear it but it's okay. Just trying to narrow it down is all. Thanks for the input

 

[01BlueCobraVert]

It is not a loud click. When I changed both my halfshafts the one seemed to click louder then he other. If you try to pull it back out by hand and it comes.... If was definitely not in all the way. Look at the gap right outside the differential where the halfshaft goes in. You will be able to tell if they are not the same.

 

[ac427cobra]

If it doesn't make that pop/click... what are the effects?

I'm not sure. I've never put them in wrong!?!! ;-)

Basically the bolts to the lower and upper A-arms connecting the axle/hub/etc won't line up right?

I think the knuckle would still bolt on. We are not talking a great distance here. Maybe 3/32" to 5/32".

Like 01blue suggested, look at the other side and compare the two and see if the distance is symetrical.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[masalacobra]

I'm not sure. I've never put them in wrong!?!! ;-)

Very nice!

Will check it out this weekend. I hate summer school, gives you no time to play with your toys. If anything, I'll probably take the whole thing back apart and put it all back together, may get it right after.

BLAH :bash: