To rebuild a rear end or not, pinion bearing issues.

[SynthDesign]

The 86 Tercel I inherited form my old roomie who moved to Japan has crapped the bed yet again. And during ski season none the less..

This time it's the rear end. It started off as a humming whine from the back end. 200 miles later it's a heavy howl and the sound of gravel from start/stop. Once elevated, the rear end feels like it's slipping and makes noticeable clicking indexing. Out, the ring and pinion look great, but it's very hard to turn it and each bit of rotation makes a resounding clack. Pinion bearing Failure?

A little back story. The rear end has been leaking for years. He just added fluid on occasion and topped off the rear end. When I got it I replaced the rear input 3rd member seal and changed the fluid. I've been driving it for the last year w/o any drivetrain issues. The new fluid that came out was pretty clean still, but the magnetic pickup had a bit of super fine shavings. Nothing as bad as I've seen on other cars that still drive fine.

Is it worth rebuilding? Can a Pinion Bearing die and not cause damage to the other mechanical parts like the pinion shaft or the ring gear? Figured I'd share it here before I head to the dif shop later this week to ask.

Also anybody in the Seattle Area have an extra 4.1 rear end laying about?

[splatterdog]

Many miles? And how many leaking? If it's caught early there will be very little collateral damage.

just did diff brgs only on a 09 Tahoe yesterday. I know, they can't all last as long as T4's...

[SynthDesign]

147k on the Chassis. I bet he didn't put more than 10k on the car since he got it but no idea on the previous owner. It was leaking since the day he got it but always had at least some fluid in it. Probably enough but I'm guess our fire road excursions and hill climbs did it in over time w/ low fluid levels.

[dlb]

just did diff brgs only on a 09 Tahoe yesterday. I know, they can't all last as long as T4's...

i love hearing your horror stories from about crappy new vehicles.

[SynthDesign]

I just got quoted $750 to replace a Pinion Bearing... Seriously.. Quoted on 5 hours labor and parts..
I got the bearings for $22. There's a total of 7 bolts and nuts on the 3rd member. Am I missing something? I know the lash has to be re adjusted and bearings pressed on and off but this seems over the top.

[Gottolovem]

Seems like you could find an entire rear axle for way less.
Then I would not always be wondering if I got the lash just right.

[splatterdog]

I just got quoted $750 to replace a Pinion Bearing... Seriously.. Quoted on 5 hours labor and parts..
I got the bearings for $22. There's a total of 7 bolts and nuts on the 3rd member. Am I missing something? I know the lash has to be re adjusted and bearings pressed on and off but this seems over the top.

Seems high, unless it includes everything. Was that everything or with you pulling the 3rd member? The Tahoe landed at 850 with all 6 rear axle/diff bearings.

just did diff brgs only on a 09 Tahoe yesterday. I know, they can't all last as long as T4's...

i love hearing your horror stories from about crappy new vehicles.

Last Tahoe that had "service suspension" warning on the dash needed 2k(yes 2K!) worth of rear electronically adjustable air shocks and compressor. Compressor failed, air bags on shocks got pinched from running flat.

[marlinh]

Ouch!

[Petros]

synth, that is way too high. You can have a whole transmissions rebuilt for just a little more than that, should be about half that including parts (perhaps even less if you already removed it). I guess they are telling you they do not want to do it.

I have a good diff assembly for you for a small fraction of that cost, you can get it tonight at my office.

[SynthDesign]

4.1 received from Petros.

Looks like this was my fault all together. When I replaced the 3rd member input seal I must of over torqued it by just a touch. This over-compressed the sleeve and over-preloaded the pinion bearings. Looks like the Dif ring and pinion are in good shape still. I've got parts coming. Time to build some tooling and learn to do it right and learn from my mistake. I even order a nice book on differentials and gearing theory. Splatterdog, feel free to PM me any helpful tips.