[57halfton]

Evilbeef , there is a Goodguys car show and swapmeet in Pleasanton this weekend , rain or shine, will be better if it dont rain. Also try Pacific auto salvage on hiway 29 south of Napa. There is a pick and pull in Fairfield, out towards Travis air force base.

[evilbeef54]

okay so i just got home and pulled the cover on the rear end expecting to find some broken chunks of metal sitting in the bottom or broken teeth or something... i didnt notice any chunks or snaped teeth or anything but as soon as i loosened the cover i was suprised to find NO fluid leaking out, when i puled the cover there was only maybe an oz or two of oil in there. That would definatly be a problem... now admitidly i do not really know how everything is supposed to be in there but i tried rotating the tires/drive shaft with the trans not in gear so i could get a look at the carrier and gears and everything. I wanted to make sure my issues are with the rear end, not the trans or something...

when i try turning the left wheel the wheel spins smoothly, but going backward the drive shaft doesnt really turn, it moves maybe a degree or two but no more, going forward it starts to turn the drive shaft and i can get about 180* of rotation out of the case but then the case/shaft stop spinning, the tire continues to spin freely

When i try turning the drive shaft i can get the case to turn around completly it seems, but going in one direction (forward if i remember correctly) it will seem to want to stop and wont want to move any more in that direction.

from what i can see of the teeth they seem okay, the case has some weird markings that do not look like they should be there, i'll attach a picture, and there seems to be a little play in the pinion gear lock (i think thats what it is called, the square block in the center)

If wondering from what i have described if this sounds bad or normal, and if it is rebuildable and if that might just be a better way to go rather than spending $300 on that CL 12 bolt, i do feel confident that a friend and i could rebuild the rear end with a little advice, we are both marine diesel mechanics and have done a bit of major rebuilds on ships' systems, we just havent done this specific work, but willing to learn, if that is more cost effictive

heres the picture of the case with the grooves that im thinking are definatly not supposed to be there, but not sure what would have caused them... again no fluid in the rear, but no real large debris, a bit dirty though

Originally Posted by 57halfton

Evilbeef , there is a Goodguys car show and swapmeet in Pleasanton this weekend , rain or shine, will be better if it dont rain. Also try Pacific auto salvage on hiway 29 south of Napa. There is a pick and pull in Fairfield, out towards Travis air force base.

ah cool, i live in Camp Parks so that car show is real close to me, of course we are going out of town sat morning, maybe i'll be able to find something on the way back into town sunday... it not going on on friday is it?

[Oregonite]

It looks like your pinion nut backed off. Take your driveline out and see how loose your pinion gear is!

[evilbeef54]

so just unbolt the drive shaft and try turning the yoke and see how much it turns before the case moves? or how do you check this? sorry again i really dont know much about checking these out, but am wanting to learn... if this is the problem is this fixable?

[Oregonite]

Take your driveline out and grab your yoke and see how much you can move it in and out. Is your pinion nut loose?

[evilbeef54]

okay so after looking at it some more here's what i noticed after removing the drive shaft and trying to turn the yoke by hand, the right tire spins all the way around when turning the yoke, the left tire starts a turn for a few degrees then rolls back, looking at the side gears inside the case, when i sping the yoke the right side gear turns as the case turns, the left side gear starts to turn then rolls back, the pinion gears in the center that connect the side gear seem to have a little play in them, it can slide up and down, is this normal or a problem

[evilbeef54]

Originally Posted by Oregonite

Take your driveline out and grab your yoke and see how much you can move it in and out. Is your pinion nut loose?

Ok I'll go check that

[Oregonite]

you need to hold the yoke with a long pipe wrench against the floor and see if you can tighten the pinion nut at all

[evilbeef54]

Originally Posted by Oregonite

Take your driveline out and grab your yoke and see how much you can move it in and out. Is your pinion nut loose?

none at all, it doesnt wiggle, slide in and out, or side to side...

here's quick video so you can see what i see
you can see how i checked the yoke, is this correct, it didnt seem to have any play at all, also you can see how the right side gear turns with the case, the left does not, and when it does it turns slightly then rolls back, also ou can see how there is a little wiggle in the pinion lock and the pinion gears when they are angled (not straight up and down)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MBEC...=youtube_gdata

[evilbeef54]

Originally Posted by Oregonite

you need to hold the yoke with a long pipe wrench against the floor and see if you can tighten the pinion nut at all

i will see what i can do, would that explain what is going on in the video

[Oregonite]

It's hard to say when those grooves happened they could have been there before, since there are no signs of metal shavings. Your next step would be to pull the axles out. To do that you need to take that bolt out of the carrier and remove the round pin and that block between the ends of the axles. Then push the wheels in and remove the clips on the end of the axles then pull your axles out and check your pinion gear. The spyder gears should come out too. It does look like anything is binding or is it?

[evilbeef54]

Originally Posted by Oregonite

It's hard to say when those grooves happened they could have been there before, since there are no signs of metal shavings. Your next step would be to pull the axles out. To do that you need to take that bolt out of the carrier and remove the round pin and that block between the ends of the axles. Then push the wheels in and remove the clips on the end of the axles then pull your axles out and check your pinion gear. The spyder gears should come out too. It does look like anything is binding or is it?

okay, i dont think think anything is binding, as you can sort of hear in the video it clicks as it spins, it sort of feels like it starts to bind for a second in the rotation, and as i said when i spin the wheels it some times turns the drive shaft, but only for a bit then it stops, the wheels feel like they spin freely, and when they spin the side bearings turn as the wheel turns but the case/yoke dont turn consistently if at all if i am spinning the wheel. when i turn the yoke the right wheel turns acordingly but the left starts to turn then rolls back

[Oregonite]

Are you positive there are no metal filings laying in the oil in the housing ?

[evilbeef54]

Originally Posted by Oregonite

Are you positive there are no metal filings laying in the housing ?

no, i am not, there is still a little bit of oil in there and some stuff stuck to the cover and bottom, however it is softer almost like gasket or gasket seal more than metal shavings, i can soak up the oil and see if there is metal shavings, if i do find metal shavings what would that mean, would that change the decision to fix/adjust this rear end or just swap it out?

[Oregonite]

If there is metal something is wrong. If you don't want to tear into it any further I completely understand but it's the only way you'll know for sure. It's a good way to learn though!