Thread: Looking to replace rear diff pinion seal

IIRC the D2 uses a bolt, not a nut to secure the flange.
That is, the pinion is drilled and tapped with a thread .. so no issues with undoing the bolt for the flange .. doesn't upset the pinion.
Tighten the bolt back up to 100Nm again.

Question is why did the seal fail? most likely due to wear on the flange area, so either be prepared with a new flange or have a way to polish it up to remove any grooving that the seal caused .. and hence why it's leaking to begin with.
No point in just plonking a new seal, and wrap it all up again .. only to have it leak again in a short time.

So my suggestion would be to buy the flange kit(comes with seal, nut/bolt and flange), and not just the seal itself.

Or sleeve it, Arthur.
SKF

Originally Posted by AK83

IIRC the D2 uses a bolt, not a nut to secure the flange.
That is, the pinion is drilled and tapped with a thread .. so no issues with undoing the bolt for the flange .. doesn't upset the pinion.
Tighten the bolt back up to 100Nm again.

Question is why did the seal fail? most likely due to wear on the flange area, so either be prepared with a new flange or have a way to polish it up to remove any grooving that the seal caused .. and hence why it's leaking to begin with.
No point in just plonking a new seal, and wrap it all up again .. only to have it leak again in a short time.

So my suggestion would be to buy the flange kit(comes with seal, nut/bolt and flange), and not just the seal itself.

Agreed, kit will be at least a definite "fix".
I have seen that after market kits are not that pricy and expect that there may be a groove on the flange. (genuine LR kit flange, bolts and seal $500, cheapie kit $110)
Will likely look for an OEM seal to go with the cheapie flange as have found cheapie seals fail pretty quickly.
Waiting on tool supplier in UK to get back from their extended Easter break, as cannot find anybody selling the flange extractor and flange holding tools here.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Or sleeve it, Arthur.
SKF

Where I live we don't have a bearing service, if I was near a city anything might be possible.
Will likely go with install a new flange and seal as that is possible here.

Originally Posted by vbrab

Agreed, kit will be at least a definite "fix".
I have seen that after market kits are not that pricy and expect that there may be a groove on the flange. (genuine LR kit flange, bolts and seal $500, cheapie kit $110)
Will likely look for an OEM seal to go with the cheapie flange as have found cheapie seals fail pretty quickly.
Waiting on tool supplier in UK to get back from their extended Easter break, as cannot find anybody selling the flange extractor and flange holding tools here.

What the flange extractor tool?

I need to do my D1's rear seal one day(long story why I haven't) .. and I was just going to use my generic harmonic pulley pulling tool on it.

Cheapie ebay job, cost about $20 or $40(can't recall exactly) .. I needed it to pull the harmonic off the Tdi some years back.
Has a large female thread in the centre of a three fingered web looking plate. Haven't yet measured it, but I reckon bolt the plate to the flange(has lots of leeway to line up right I think) .. and the centre thread into the pinions and it should slowly release the flange at some point. Even if it only puts enough pulling force where a few strategic taps with a 10lb masher releases it proper ..

I don't reckon you need a specialised flange extractor too to remove it.

I'm referring to THIS type of tool you can readily find on ebay.
Note that if you do go with this tool type(handy for a few removal types) .. the bolts they supply are, as you should expect!! ... pretty much useless. You'd be lucky if you got a single use out of most.
The more important factor with these tool kits are the fittings supplied in the kit. Specifically the feet .. the central feet that rest on the fixed point in the assembly you're prying apart. The kit I got is similar too(not the same one tho) to the one I linked too. If you view it, you will see other brands types available for less $s too. The feet are the small attachments that are around the 3 fingered claw plate. The cone and flat shaped doodads that attach to the threaded male rod that rest on the sturdy part of the assembly. You get large and smaller flats and cones.. both, shapes and sizes can be handy for various purposes.

If I were to use mine on the flange(which I will one day, when not in 'lazy mode), I'd use the flat foot but not onto the pinion directly, I would get the bolt in as far as I could thread it and if needed maybe a few washers to secure it tightly. Then the central threaded rod would be pushing on the head of the bolt with the flat foot. You could be tempted to try the cone foot into the threads of the pinion! I'd say don't!... could damage the threads. It shouldn't as the feet pivot on a shaft that don't let it turn whilst you wind the rod in.
To work properly they just need lube. I use WD type stuff, on the large rod(threads) and on the shaft of the foot to be sure it turns(relative to the threaded rod).

For not a whole lot of $s ... and taking into account the country of origin!! ... they seem to do the job well enough.

The extractor plate is made of the most elastic hardened steel that Mao's metalurgists could manage to manufacture! .. but for small scale jobs on passenger vehicles, I don't think you NEED the $200+ name brand jobbies.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by vbrab

Where I live we don't have a bearing service, if I was near a city anything might be possible.
Will likely go with install a new flange and seal as that is possible here.

Feeling your pain, I broke down there a few years ago.
If you can supply the seal number or internal and external dimensions of the seal, CBC Darwin - CBC Australia PTY LTD should have no problems supplying the seal and speedi sleeve.

At first I figured three leg puller would do job, but as the centre flange has to be extracted (and by many accounts often quite 'stuck"), then it would likely require a tool such as Fourby.uk make, which relies on three bolts to "push" the flange out, rather than just an 8x1.25 pitch bolt to "pull" it.
Not sure it can be "pulled" in the usual way.
I'd be keen to get cheaper more available tools to do job if they suited.

The tools appear reasonably priced, but then they wanted about $150 freight for $150 of tools, so have sent Email querying freight cost as same tool on Ebay incurs cheaper freight, but cannot find both tools on Ebay, so contacted fouby.UK website

Demo here: LR Discovery1 and 2, RRC Rear Axle Diff Donut Centralising Peg Removal Tool from Fourby,co.uk - YouTube
Two tools: extractor plate and flange holder https://fourby.co.uk/epages/95000427...roducts/puller
and Flange holder (needed to bolt the flange back in at least.) https://fourby.co.uk/epages/950004277.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950004277/Products/LRT-51-003


Waiting for response from Fouby Uk.

Originally Posted by AK83

What the flange extractor tool?

I need to do my D1's rear seal one day(long story why I haven't) .. and I was just going to use my generic harmonic pulley pulling tool on it.

Cheapie ebay job, cost about $20 or $40(can't recall exactly) .. I needed it to pull the harmonic off the Tdi some years back.
Has a large female thread in the centre of a three fingered web looking plate. Haven't yet measured it, but I reckon bolt the plate to the flange(has lots of leeway to line up right I think) .. and the centre thread into the pinions and it should slowly release the flange at some point. Even if it only puts enough pulling force where a few strategic taps with a 10lb masher releases it proper ..

I don't reckon you need a specialised flange extractor too to remove it.

I'm referring to THIS type of tool you can readily find on ebay.
Note that if you do go with this tool type(handy for a few removal types) .. the bolts they supply are, as you should expect!! ... pretty much useless. You'd be lucky if you got a single use out of most.
The more important factor with these tool kits are the fittings supplied in the kit. Specifically the feet .. the central feet that rest on the fixed point in the assembly you're prying apart. The kit I got is similar too(not the same one tho) to the one I linked too. If you view it, you will see other brands types available for less $s too. The feet are the small attachments that are around the 3 fingered claw plate. The cone and flat shaped doodads that attach to the threaded male rod that rest on the sturdy part of the assembly. You get large and smaller flats and cones.. both, shapes and sizes can be handy for various purposes.

If I were to use mine on the flange(which I will one day, when not in 'lazy mode), I'd use the flat foot but not onto the pinion directly, I would get the bolt in as far as I could thread it and if needed maybe a few washers to secure it tightly. Then the central threaded rod would be pushing on the head of the bolt with the flat foot. You could be tempted to try the cone foot into the threads of the pinion! I'd say don't!... could damage the threads. It shouldn't as the feet pivot on a shaft that don't let it turn whilst you wind the rod in.
To work properly they just need lube. I use WD type stuff, on the large rod(threads) and on the shaft of the foot to be sure it turns(relative to the threaded rod).

For not a whole lot of $s ... and taking into account the country of origin!! ... they seem to do the job well enough.

The extractor plate is made of the most elastic hardened steel that Mao's metalurgists could manage to manufacture! .. but for small scale jobs on passenger vehicles, I don't think you NEED the $200+ name brand jobbies.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Feeling your pain, I broke down there a few years ago.
If you can supply the seal number or internal and external dimensions of the seal, CBC Darwin - CBC Australia PTY LTD should have no problems supplying the seal and speedi sleeve.

Waiting on tools to extract it first, then if worn will have to chase up speedi sleeve ......or see if my wreck has a better one on it.