Thread: Range Rover Classic Diff Pinion Seal

I needed to change my leaking rear diff pinion seal, so I thought I would take a few phots and make it a tutorial.

Here is the rear diff with drain and filler plugs removed. You can see the evidence of the leaking seal.




This is the pinion area with the propshaft unbolted.



I removed the split pin and marked the pinion (threaded part), the nut and the flange so I could line it all up on reassembly. I counted the number of turns of the nut so when I reassembled it I could put it back exactly as it was (in this case, 8 turns).

This pic shows the diff after the pinion flange was removed.



This is the removed flange. I cleaned the seal surface with fine sandpaper.
The seal surface is not perfect but I am hoping it will suffice.



New seal still in packaging.



I removed the pinion bearing and spacer so I could take a look at the bearing.
While not in 100% perfect condition it is still serviceable.
The bearing was marked Timken and Made In England.
I have no reason to believe that it is not the factory fitted bearing.
Although I have replace the diff centre with an lsd, I didn't touch the pinion bearing or seal at that time.



This pic shows the new seal in place.
I smeared bearing grease on the seal surface to lubricate it and I also put a very fine smear of silastic on the outer face to help it seal.
I then used a hammer to gently tap the seal into place until it was level with the housing.



After that I refitted the pinion flange, washer and nut, once again using a slight smear of silastic on the back face of the washer to prevent leaks up the splines.
The nut was done up the correct number of turns until the marks lined up and the split pin refitted. A new split pin would have been ideal, but I didn't have one to hand.



I then refitted the propshaft. Here new nuts would have been a good idea too, but I have never had issues with them coming loose and the nyloc still felt tight while doing them up.




After that it was a matter of refitting the drain plug, refilling the oil (80w/90) and refitting the fill plug.

Total time taken was under two hours, and that was going at a very leisurely pace.

Tools used were 1/2 drive breaker bar and one inch socket for drain/fill plugs and pinion nut.
Side cutters for split pin removal.
9/16 spanners. One open ender and one ring spanner for propshaft bolts.
One strong flat bladed screwdriver to prise old seal from housing.
One hammer to tap new seal into place.
One camera to record the job!

Provided you have appropriate tools and a little patience this is an easy home repair, even for home mechanics with little experience.

Originally Posted by Richard93Vogue

I see that I have been to this thread back in 2012 when I first noted my seal leaking. 2 years on I am actually needing to do the job but all your pictures are gone BigJon. Any chance of uploading them to AULRO?

...bummer about those (and many other) photos !