Was under my ride pulling the rear bumper off and found my rear axle seal on the right side was leaking.

If your ride is older or up in miles or both, keep tabs on it. Replacing a rear end sucks.

Not to mention, I just started noticing braking power was lacking too. Good reason, 1 brake wasn't working....

My rear end pinion seal is leaking. I bought the seal, just need a weekend off so I can put the car in the air and change the seal and then flush the fluid in the rear diff.

Part of me wants to dig into my bank account and just buy the 3.73 gears and Eaton posi and do it all at the same time.. but with the Holidays coming up, it is not right to be selfish :crybaby:

Hmm, I have my Auburn posi just begging to be installed... I'll ponder it, but I can't have the car down and I don't have a lot of $$ to fall back on if I mess up something...

I DO need the posi this winter....

nodih, only one brake working, let me guess exploded wheel cylinder?:eek:

Nope, axle seal, yanked the wheel off. wheel cyl was dry as a bone, but from the axle down, sopping wet with oil....

96, if you have the funds, do the gears. I'm sorry I didn't do it when we had mine apart. I rebuilt with factory gears and diff. Silly me, now I'm kicking myself in the ass.

Yes keep an eye on those seals. Apparently that's a know issue? It's a great way to destroy a rear end and not even know it.

I have 3.42's now, so I don't need to step in gears (4.10's if I did it...).

Yup, no excuse to not get under there now and then...

Leaking axle seals are usually an indication of sloppy wheel bearings on these cars. The first sign is premature wear of rear shoes if you have them.

I hope not, but mine was one of the cars with the wrong diff gasket that blocked off the passages to the axle bearings. My drivers side is a little noisy once I put the synthetic and new gasket in. So I have my concerns... I'll know when I get the axles out here in a bit and see what shape they are in. Maybe I should go get another seal and do the other side while I am at it...

If one fails, the other probably is right behind it.

Great....

I pulled the pinion lock out and the only part that came out was the bolt head and threads. The smaller part that goes in deep to lock the pinion shaft in place isn't coming out, I can't get the pinion out. Shoot... Great....

All I need...

I have another pinion lock bolt, not sure what I can put on it to stick to the other and pull out the remainder. Any ideas on something that is small, will stick in oil and something I hopefully have laying around? Magnet would be good, but I don't think I have one that small here, at work, lots, here, not...

Grrrr....

Oh, and the right side axle play (lifting it up and down) is around 1/8". The other side is very small. This side is the leaker.... Stupid GM for putting on the wrong gasket....

Dose it with carbonator cleaner a few times over a few days. It might come out with a magnet after that. If not hit it with compressed air. It must be dry and free of gear oil. I once watched an ex airplane hydraulics expert fight with one of those for almost a week straight. Not pretty.

I looked at the bolt closer, and it broke off, probably 1/8 to 1/4" of threads still left in the diff.

Ideas? I can't really get a drill into it, and I can't pull the diff out now.

Just Found this: http://www.skywaytools.com/autopg2.html

If there are threads in there then it's actually easier to remove. All you need is something made from hardened steel which fits in there and has a point. You can hold it at an angle and tap it with a small hammer. It can take 1000 hits but it will spin out. All you need is a little off 90 degree energy pointed near the outside diameter of the broken metal. If you do choose to go the drill route then get one that spins counterclockwise. It will spin the thing out insead of tighten it. Drilling isn't easy. Use eye protection whatever you do.

I got it out, but, now to see the damage to the axle on the bearing surface....

I have to put it back in, don't have any choice, but where do I get good axles for a Fleetwood?? Chevy/Buick axles won't work.

Price isn't great, but not deadly...
Shipping is still? from http://GMPartsDirect.com

GM PART # 26028502
CATEGORY: All
PACK QTY: 1
CORE CHARGE: $0.00
GM LIST: $231.87
OUR PRICE: $137.46

Offset bearings are available. They ride on a different part of the axle. I use 'em all the time.

How do I find P/N and supplier? I put it back together with the new seal, and amazingly enough, it is quiet.

I did have to steal the lock bolt out of my posi that is slated to go in the Cad, it is an Eaton not a Auburn like I thought (YEAH!!!!). It is a Eaton 19959-010 that I have, which is listed as a Large Hub GM Car/Truck 1989 ~ Present, 30 spline, 2.76 and higher ratio. I am quite happy about it being an Eaton. But I did have to steal the lock. And I swiped the pinion lock out of another open diff I had. This one has been broken for a while, it has beat the crap out of the pinion lock hole, so I replaced it too.

I'd like to know more about that 2.76 after you get it installed. I'd also like to know why you put your axles on the cooktop burner.
Even the dumbest of awful parts stores have been able to come up with replacement offset rear axle bearings by application for me in the past. They might call them axle saver bearings or something similar. Maybe try NAPPY online. You will notice your rear brakes chattering slightly if they are properly adjusted due to the sloppy bearing. The seal might hold up for a while. It will be interesting. Last time I put this job off my car caught on fire on the way into work. Good thing they had the hose there for me when I pulled up. Fire went right out instead of spreading. Not supposed to use water on an oil fire. Tell that to my car. T'was a long time ago......

It is for a 2.76 and up carrier, I have 3.42's that will be on that carrier. It is a 3 series carrier (which handles 4 series gears too). The 2 series carrier is 2.73 and down.

Car fire, that is comforting.... So, do I keep the brakes adjusted up snug to keep things in place or keep it loose?

I will be buying axles very very soon here... And some diff work.

As for the stove, I needed a place to bring them in where I could get some good light. Wheel studs weren't dirty, and the new carpet in the living room would get me shot. Stove was ok... She didn't kill me, but it didn't last more than few min before I got complaints on the smell, at least synthetic doesn't smell as bad as dino (whale?) gear oil...

Brake adjustment should be a little loose. Don't go too loose or the wheel cylinder will go pop.

I have brake adj a little snug (not dragging, but close....), but I didn't think that when I adjusted it the wheel was hanging down, now the wheel sits in the car with weight on, so it is pushed up, deep into the groove of the axle that the bearing dug. Hopefully not dragging.

1 reason to go to disc brakes!

NODIH,
There is a shop called The Transmission Shop in Lake Villa near rt. 83 and Grand Ave. They did my gear swap and labor was only $250. They seem to know what they are doing there and mentioned to me that my right side also shows some wear but I should be ok for a while. I had a new install kit put in while I was there which included seals & bearings. I supplied the kit, though. But they could probably source an axle for you...

Thanks, that is something I really wanted to find, a good shop. I called one and he said it would take 8 hours to do a diff swap only. Yeah right.... Only for an inexperienced person who has never done it before!

1 reason to go to disc brakes!

With rear disc brakes and that amount of wheel bearing slop, pedal feel will be very poor. The rotor will be moving slightly out of it's worn areas when the car moves thus retracting the brake pad. When you hit the brakes, the pad has to hit the rotor before you get any pedal resistance. Worn out stuff ruins the fun.

Not sure how much it actually moves left to right once assembled. Was thinking about the pinion lock shaft in there, and the axles up against it. I have to check the runout in the car. It might not be so bad once it is all assembled. Was pondering that this afternoon.

Still can't be great having any movement. It might still be bad back and forth. I'll check it this weekend if I can get some time under the car if it doesn't snow...

Well, just dropped the $$ on a pair of new axles from Dal. $153 each + shipping. Gotta do, it is still leaking. So now to pick up some bearings and get my posi ready to install.... Do it all and do it right! And then get my aluminum driveshaft ready too, or get mine balanced, it is BAD at 100+ mph....

FYI. GM only HAS to keep parts for 10 years, after that, they don't care. So being the Fleetwood died in 96, parts officially can dry up and they don't have to care.

The axle P/N is: 26028502 for the 8.5" axle.