Ok guy's here is my delemma for the day. I have a 1953 Chevy 3600 3/4 ton. The rear end has had a leak in it ever since I brought the truck home. I was told it was a bad pinion seal. Ok, so I went out and bought the pinion seal and the other round felt oil seal. I have replaced this combo two times now. Once on my own, It still leaked, So I thought I did something wrong. Bought another set, then had my mechanic friend replace them and also installed a speedy sleeve. Thinking that was the problem, why it was leaking. Now it seems to leak worse. What the heck is going on?
Anyone have any ideas? Elmo Got an update on this truck, the rear pinion seal is finally replaced and is holding. NO MORE GEAR LUBE SLINGING OUT OF THE REAR END!!! Thank you GOD!! As you know in the 53 Chevrolet 3600 pick up trucks, there is a seal and a felt ring that goes behind the seal. The shop replaced both of these the first time. But it leaked really bad. Then they removed those and just replaced the seal. And didn't replace the felt ring. Turns out the felt fibers were getting between the pinion and the seal making it leak like a mother! So they just left it out out of the mix. I've put 100 miles on the truck and it is as dry as dry can get. It hasn't dripped a drop! Elmo
Did you set the proper preload on the bearing? Seals leak because the shaft or yoke they're riding on is so wobbly the seal lip can't keep up with the movement. You've probably got one or more bad bearings in the mix or the pinion nut hasn't been tightened properly to preload the tapered roller bearings. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Yes, the garter spring around the seal lip is supposed to be installed toward the grease it's trying to seal (the inside of the rear end). Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I just talked to my bud that is a mechanic. He installed the seal with the spring toward the grease. So that's not it. Will have to check the bearings next.
The vent is on top of the axle housing . small cap has a light spring under it , sometimes just a fiddle with the cap (rotate it a few times) is enough to clear it . Or you might have to take it out and wash it. But road dust and oil mist quickly clog it up again .
Found it!!! Had to turn it with a small pliers. And yes it was plugged. Got it freed up. Oh man, if that is all it was. This will be epic!! I will find out tomorrow when I take the truck out for a ride.
Thanks Ed and Dusty for the helpful info. Just another tid bit I didn't know about these trucks.
Truckernix, It was in there when I took it apart the very first time. The felt round oil seal looks just like the seal, same size as the seal. You put that in first. Then the seal. Don’t really know if you need it in there or not.
That felt is intended to be a debris and dust barrier to keep road grit, mud, etc. away from the sealing lip. Rubber sealing lips don't last long in dirty environments. Some of the newer-design seals have a second lip outboard of the one with the garter spring to try to accomplish the same thing. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Illustration of the 3/4 ton Rear axle is in this catalog. 1929 - 1957 Chevrolet Master Parts & Accessories Catalog Click on Illustration Index, Note: There are 3 pages of illustrations it is on the Illustrations 2 > page. It is under: REAR AXLE-DRIVESHAFT-"U" JOINT, There is a typo it reads 1/4 and 1 Ton Rear Axle it should read 3/4 ton and 1 Ton Rear Axle. page 468 Below the the illustration, You can Click to ENLARGE Page,
On the same website it also shows it in the 1929 - 1954 Master Parts and Accessories Catalog HERE But it is sideways, you can rotate it by scrolling down and clicking on Rotate Page. There is no typo on the 1929 - 1954 Master Parts and Accessories Catalog illustration PAGE.
The 54 shop manual does not show the packing but mentions oil seal in the retainer. Number 4
WrenchBender Ret, I took the truck for a good long ride today. I got home, and there is a mess when I looked under the box. Is it possible to put to much gear lube in the differential? George, do you have any other ideas what could be going on? Thanks Elmo
Try doing a good cleanup and run the truck at highway speed with the rear axle on some heavy-duty jack stands for a few minutes. You can watch the pinion flange that way and see exactly where the leak is coming from. The gear lube should be at the bottom of the fill hole with the truck on level ground. Did you remove the vent and make sure it was open all the way to the axle tube? Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Here is a what a New Rear End Vent Tube looks like. I would unscrew and take out the one that is in there and then give it another test drive. Its not going to hurt anything without having one screwed into the axle housing on a dry day. It might be rusted in, so you should spray some Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil on it and let it soak for awhile. Worst case, if the threads break off in the housing you may need a easy-out to remove the remaining threads. Once the hole is open, check with a small wire to ensure the hole is open.
The cap is crimped on to the lower threaded portion.
My first new seal on my 51 1 Ton lasted about 7 years. Then it began to leak, only when I was driving the truck. It didn't leak just sitting. I thought maybe the bearing was starting to get sloppy but that wasn't the case. When I replaced the seal, I found that the previous one had shrunk in the center making it extremely tight on the shaft. So when the yoke was turning, I would guess that the rubber was distorting. A new seal fixed the problem.
I am still curious where the felt ring was mounted because they are not required with the modern seal.
The flange that the seal goes in does not fit up against the housing. There is a thick cork gasket between them. The flange goes on far enough to lock in the brg. The distance is determined by the shims. The gasket compresses to fill the gap. The gasket never is good enough to reuse. Its best to get a new one but it could be done with RTV. Have you checked the brg.? It should not have any up-down motion. There is no crush sleeve on this brg. There is a solid spacer between them. The flange nut should be very tight, about 200 foot lbs. Then tighten more to line up the cotter pin hole. As said before the grease fills to the bottom of the fill hole. I have seen the cover put on upside down & the rear end filled way over full. It is usually about level with the bottom of the tubes. George
They say money can't buy happiness. It can buy old Chevy trucks though. Same thing. 1972 Chevy c10 Cheyenne Super In the Gallery Forum
Couple of points on the vent. Some of the fittings screwed into the housing, some were pressed in. Either can be a bear to remove. The cap can be removed with a little prying without removing the fitting. Once things are clean the cap can be crimped back on with pliers. But not too tight, it needs to rattle around to help with the self cleaning aspect.
One truck I had (can't recall which one) had a barbed fitting with a hose that went up into a clean cross member of the bed. Make a loop out of tubing that fastens to the rail to keep the water out.
Some axle vents are incorporated into the bolt that holds the brass brake line junction block to one of the rear axle tubes. Those usually have a hose nipple for a rubber tube that ends up above the high water level of trucks that go off road. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
