I think my differential just threw a fit

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

Well I took the differential out - and I can't see any damaged teeth on any of the gears. Started the car and let it idle in 1st and its still grinding. I'm now looking up how to disconnect the d/s and get the pinion gear out. I'll have a pic of the metal pieces up in a few if anyone wants to take a guess at where they came from.

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

[crazytrain65]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

wth? I have no idea lol those look weird

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

wow I'm going to resize that pic. I'm thinking maybe they're part of the bearing that the pinion gear rides on? That's what appears to be grinding. I'm trying to remove the D/S but the damn yoke is rusted together. I got the bolts out after some swearing and multiple hits of PB penetrating spray. I just hit the yoke with it and am going to let it soak for a bit.

Just so I'm sure - you don't have to take off the torque arm to drop the driveshaft right?

Also - in the process of taking everything apart the planetary gears and axle gears all came out once I removed the center pin and removed the axles. Is there anything specific I'll have to do to put it back together? It looks like everything has its place but I know tolerances are important with the gears.

[crazytrain65]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

Driveshaft should just be 4 bolts over the rear U-joint and it will slide right out. the torque arm does not have to come off. but yea it could be pieces of a bearing but idk.

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

I definitely have the 4 bolts off the yoke just will not separate. I need to get a decent pry bar and possibly a heat gun. I'm thinking i'm probably going to be sourcing a used rear with limited slip. I'm about %90 of the way done removing it. Just need to disconnect brake lines (though the fittings are pretty rusty it may end up being cut), get the damn axle yoke apart and the 2 arms that connect the axle to the body. Shocks, springs, sway bar and torque arm all disconnected today. If I knew how easy the shocks were going to be I would have done them years ago. I cut the tops off of the swaybar bolts as it would have likely taken me another hour to get them off as I had to keep retightening and clearing off the rust the nut was cutting off.

Also I'm curious - how do you remove the pinion gear unless that requires removing the axle and yoke from the outside first? There is a small hole in the center of the pinion inside the differential but I can't tell if there is an allen key in there or if there should be a bolt in that hole. Felt around with a small screwdriver but it just felt like a hole to me.

So to summarize I just need some good ideas about getting the yoke apart and the brake lines but I'll be doing some searching on that as well.

[IceHammer]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

You have to remove the pinion nut to remove the pinion gear. The nut is located in the center of the yoke where the driveshaft came apart from. Could be pretty full of dirt and rust so you might have missed it.

As far as the brake lines, put in new. You're going to ruin them if you try to un-bolt them from the calipers or junction block.

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

Thanks IceHammer! I've been searching everywhere and for some reason couldn't figure out where the eluded pinion nut was. I haven't gotten the yoke separated yet which would explain why I haven't noticed it. I tried getting the lines out of the junction and ended up rounding the connector on the line with the open wrench so I guess I'll just cut the rubber line connecting this one and replace that maybe with a braided line.

Still working on sourcing a rear end - I've found a couple within a couple hours driving via car-parts but they want $500 which seems high. Then again I'm finding the ones with confirmed posi, disc brakes and 3.23 or higher gear ratio are the ones going for that much. A little cheaper on e-bay but add freight in and it's even more. Going to call local salvage yards this week and try to find a replacement. I suppose I could take my rear end out and to a local tranny shop to rebuild it along with some new axles but add in labor and its getting real close to just swapping everything out for a lsd rear.

I ordered new moog sway bar links today as I cut the old bolts short because it would have taken forever to grind through all the rust if I had gotten all the way without snapping it and it will be nice to have some fresh bushings in there. I also ordered some new shocks as the decarbons were well past their lifespan and could somewhat easily be compressed by hand. I'm hoping the new rear will come with an installed sway bar as I also broke the u-bolts holding it to the axle taking them off. Will standard u-bolts do or are they a special size/grade?

[crazytrain65]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

just hit the side of the u-joint with a ball pen hammer or similar. push forward, pull out. really simple

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

Found a rear end for $350 with all the options I wanted about an hour away. I'm going to pick it up Saturday morning and start swapping it in that afternoon.

[IceHammer]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

I tried getting the lines out of the junction and ended up rounding the connector on the line with the open wrench so I guess I'll just cut the rubber line connecting this one and replace that maybe with a braided line.

Did you use a line wrench (ie. 5 sided vs the normal 4 sided)? Good investment if youre going to be working on brake & fuel lines.

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

I did not even know a line wrench existed. Good stuff to know. Will I need sae or metric or both?

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

I took a gamble at the auto store and got a small standard set. Didn't fit.

I did pick up my replacement rear end today. I was happy to see it had been painted at some point in its life and looked to be in good condition. Disc brakes and lines were intact. They cut the shocks off and left me with bolts to remove and also cut the panhard which was much less rusted than mine.

I finally got the rear out. I ended up cutting the brake lines on either side of the junction, got the ebrake disconnected and unbolted the lca's. I was able to get the brake lines out of the donor rear cleanly so I'm hoping to get the stubs out of the old junction and have little to do in the brake department. I left the driveshaft attached dragged it out with the rear. Once it was out it only took a minute to get it separated.

I hit my sway bar (rear didn't come with one) and the panhard rod with the wire wheel then some anti rust liquid. Tomorrow I'll paint them. I also hit any big rust spots I could get to with the wheel as well as most other areas just to knock dirt and whatever off for painting. I started painting the underside but I got brush on rustoleum and it was way too thick for my trowaway foam brushes and was drying way too quick with the breeze. I thinned it down a bit but the solvent I used ate the foam brushes. The wind was picking up pretty good so I decided to halt painting activities as even though its the underbody I don't want a million leaves stuck to it.

Here are a couple of pics of the rearends as well as the underside.

[MegaHertz]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

Does anyone know what size ubolts hold the sway bar to the axle? I broke both of mine (literally twisted them till they snapped) and need replacements to get the rear installed.

[ssms5411]

Re: I think my differential just threw a fit

I believe its like a 14mm or something like that, sure alot of rust under there. Good luck.