While back I started to notice a noise / vibration in the car at highway speeds. Its been getting steadily worse. Last weekend had the car up on the lift cleaning it and saw a oil / dirt trail down the backside of both backing plates. Today just for grins and giggles I pulled the wheels, drums and axles out and found this mess.
There was a small bit of up n down play in the axles which led me to pull them. Bearings seem fine. maybe a bit loose but intact. Im thinking maybe the inner bearing on the carrier. Will probably pull the cover today. 99% of the crap seems to be in the R side tube .
Bearings may be fine, but perhaps the seals at are gone. Usually, when a seal fails, rear end lube spills all over the inside of the brake drum.
Where exactly did you scoop that grit up with your finger? Have you puller the cover yet? I had a '75 Electra that ate a couple clutches in the carrier, left a shitty mess in the rear, and boy would that rear go BANG BANG BANG when turning right
Pretty much the entire bottom of the R tube is covered in this.I reached my finger in there past the seal and scooped it out. The left from what I can see is just got lube in it. Was going to pull the cover today but wasn't feeling it after work. I completely rebuilt this rear with all new bearings and seals 4 years ago.
Ok Guys, I am out of ideas. Have pulled the carrier. Both bearings are near perfect. Perfect wear pattern on the ring gear. 0 play in the pinion. Clutch pacs look intact and in good condition. Whatever this goo is its not from the internals of the rear end. Nor is the noise/ vibration I have been hearing and feeling in the car. I'll clean everything thoroughly, put it all back together. refill the gear lube and add fresh additive for the posi. Next step will be to pull and inspect the drive shaft. It was rebuilt about 2 years ago so I dont expect any problems there.
Bought it complete from a craigslist seller in Detroit. My father lived up there at that time so I paid the seller extra 100.00 to drop it off at dad's house then he brought it to Florida on his next snowbird run. Later the next spring I took it to a friends shop along with all the new bearings and seals to have him go through it. I have no reason to believe he would not have cleaned it out while it was gutted, but cant conclusively say he did. Asked him about it this afternoon and he says it was done. Who knows?
God guys....I suppose you just zip a main cap on a motor too or rod cap bolts. geez. Every bolt and nut has a torque rating...As we all now there are just some more critical than others. rear inspection cover bolts ....NOT SO CRITICAL.... MAins ALWAYS... Ring gear bolts critical Backing plates have lock washers might not be so critical etc. Even lugs on the wheels you want to be torqued evenly .... but I know we all just zip those on with the impact too. Just remember if your doing this stuff and it fails...do not be so critical on the parts... Jim
10 bolt GM and 12 bolt gm are all 60 foot lbs. MAin carrier bearing caps light oil not loctite. Maybe you are thinking ring gear bolt torque which is 65 ft lbs. and use loctite ... Jim
Honestly,I just do them both at 65. I know some spec sheets vary a little. I've seen some say 60,some say 65. I haven't had any issues with the 5 extra ft-lbs. Funny story: I did witness someone put an Intake on an engine with an impact,and proceed to make passes at Norwalk. It didn't last long.
Silly.... Yah and on engine you start from the middle a work your torque outward with intake and heads etc.
Crap out of the tube. I personally for the business have brushes on steel twisted rods from a brush company here in town.... They work great. Back yard job. Take a old broom stick handle and cut a slit in the end about 1 to 2" then take a rag and jam it in the slit. you can dunk it in kerosene and have the bucket under the tub end with the car tilted in the bucket direction then keep going to town till you get a clean rag after changing to different cleaner rags each time. REMEMBER it does not have to be surgical clean in there.... But it is your vehicle so I will leave the analities to you ... brake cleaner will finish the job nicely also with a clean rag through once more. Obviously this is easier with the carrier and rear disassembled or all your doing is pushing the crap to the carrier bearing area. Jim J D
Pretty much exactly what I did. Had it all clean and buttoned up before my first service call came in at 10am. Of course I went around the rest of the day smelling like gear lube. Stopped by Oreallys and picked up some lube and additive. Tomorrow I'll move it over to the lift n filler er up. After that I'll pull the drive shaft and check the carrier bearing. If that checks out I'll inspect the flex plate / Tq converter.
