Updated the Yoke on the OCC...

I had a bad pinion seal leak on the OCC. It has 214K on it, so it was due. I also figured the yoke had a groove worn in it and a simple seal replacement would not totally fix the leak.

So I bought (on e-bay for $60) GM PN 12470387 Yoke kit. Has the updated triple seal.

When I pulled the old yoke off I did have a good groove in it, so a new seal would not have worked.

I set the e-brake so the rear didn't move, and counted the threads showing on the pinion before I took anything apart (so I could re-tighten the new nut to appx the same torque) Took 1.5 quarts of gear oil too. I let it drain real well before I put the new seal in.
I also moved the driveshaft over just a touch and used a jackstand to hold it up. I did not have to pull it out of the transmission (which made things less messy)





_______________
NASTY leak..was slinging gear oil everywhere too



_______________

Counting the threads......



_______________

Old Yoke vs new Yoke.....



_______________

New nut/washer and same threads showing (so torque on pinion bearing is close to what it was)



_______________

All done!! Ready for FL!

Congrats Chris,you going to make a trial run with it before the trip?Kinda curious just how bad was
the "good"groove as in how deep?
Gotta Know
Jim Gordon

Nice work!

Hooray new shiny parts! See you Saturday!

Thanks guys! Gone about 75 miles and dry as a bone. Still have the annoying oil leak though. Grrr.

Flasheroo wrote:

Congrats Chris,you going to make a trial run with it before the trip?Kinda curious just how bad was
the "good"groove as in how deep?
Gotta Know
Jim Gordon

You can feel it with your fingernail...its not a gouge (see pics)...but I don't think I would have just slapped another seal on it.

Chris

How long did it take you to do the swap?

I need to do this also as mine not only leaks..... it HOWLS!

It took me about (including jacking the car up and such) about 40-50mins. If you are changing your rear end fluid too...and take the diff cover off...it should go a lot quicker. My fluid was pretty new so I just sat and waited for the draining to stop at the pinion bearing level. (That was the main holdup)

Krzdimond wrote:

How long did it take you to do the swap?

I need to do this also as mine not only leaks..... it HOWLS!

So THATS what that noise is. It sounds like a howl/squeel from the rear end. And it has a leak too.... Looks like my next project.

Well, I don't know if that would cause a howl....that might be gear noise or a bearing going bad. I dunno?

Have you checked to make sure it has the proper fluid level? If it does not, that rear end will get hot quick and things will die. Lol

brokecello wrote:

Well, I don't know if that would cause a howl....that might be gear noise or a bearing going bad. I dunno?

Have you checked to make sure it has the proper fluid level? If it does not, that rear end will get hot quick and things will die. Lol

I changed the differential gasket and cover last spring, has the proper level of gear oil and posi fluid. Idk, ever since I got the car its made a slight whining noise when accelerating. When I had the cover off I checked for any damaged parts and all looked good.

Thats when mine started leaking too! (after I changed the rear fluid and added posi lube) Guess the new oil was too clean and just snuck past that worn seal.

I did have to add some at each oil change before I finally fixed it.

i bet the howl is a bearing going

I did this R&R (changed the seal anyway) on my 1A2 right before I sold it.
I didn't torque it right (not enough probably even though I had a cheap torque wrench) and the rear burned up about 300 miles later (straight highway). The dude I sold it to said it was howling when he took his foot of the gas.

Well, I can say Ive driven this 4,200 miles since this repair....no issues. Counted the threads as shown above and used a new crush washer and nut (all comes in the kit).

Id agree though...howling=bearings going.

I've bought another kit for Jade, but it will get thrown on during the rear end rebuild (posi/3.42gears/new axles) Saving my dough as I can't do that myself.

I didn't get a new crush washer and I'm guessing that was the mistake

Chris,

Another question. When you did this did you have to baby the car for a bit? Badass of NE is having a mod day and there will be lift access so I planned to do it then, problem is the mod day is about 90 miles away. Would this be the sort of project that would be safe to do then drive the car home that far?

You'll be fine dude. Once it's fixed, it's fixed.

Bewber wrote:

You'll be fine dude. Once it's fixed, it's fixed.

Sweet! Thanks for the info.

Well the car is pushing 253K now and it's still dry as bone back there!

Sprocket wrote:

Well the car is pushing 253K now and it's still dry as bone back there!