pwhoever
350+ Posts
- Thread starter
- #41
Well looks like it's still not fixed. A very slight leak is still there. It appears to be coming from behind the yoke and most likely the rubber part of new seal. I ended up picking up a better air impact wrench to try and snug up the pinion nut and I was able to get it a little over 1/8" tighter. I had been leery about trying to tighten the nut because I wasn't sure if it would compromise the liquid silicone gasket I used when putting it all back together. This time when removing the driveshaft, I ended up moving the rear end so the bolts were right in the middle of slots on the differential mounting plate. I checked and there is now only about 1/2" of play on driveshaft front to rear but just enough so driveshaft can be unbolted and removed with a little wiggling. I left gravel pan off and went on a long ride. Before leaving I cleaned up as much as I could first. One thing I did notice right away was that the smooth shifting was now back and I was happy about that. After getting back though, there was still a small drip from behind the yoke.
So I dived back in and unbolted the driveshaft again. I figure that because of the the possibility that I compromised the liquid gasket, I might as well pull everything apart and redo it. Because I did reposition the rear end, I saved myself the extra step of unbolting and moving that. I then undid the pinion bolt. It took about the same force with air impact wrench to remove as it did when first going after the original leaking seal. After pulling the yoke, I inspected the new seal and it looks just fine. Around the metal part of the seal was a very small amount of grime but it wiped away. I cleaned up a bunch of the gasket stuff off the nut and hit it with some brake cleaner to remove it all. I did the same with the splines on the yoke. The pinion shaft may be a small problem. I don't really want to hit that with brake cleaner because I don't want that inside of the rear end mixing with gear oil. (I forgot to mention that I did drain the rear end again first...) Most of the gasket stuff seems to have come off the shaft by picking and peeling. It seems like I got the majority of it off though.
But this is where I'm at now. I haven't tried reinstalling anything yet. I've been doing a ton of Google research. One thing that popped out was that when using the Permatex Ultra Black silicone sealant is that you must have patience. I saw posts mentioning that when using it, initially install the components and only finger tighten them. Give it about an hour and then fully tighten the item. Then wait a full 24 hours before filling with any kind of oil or fluids. I didn't do this the first time. I used the silicone sealant where it was mentioned to do it, tightened it down, and then filled the rear end with gear oil right away. Maybe I caused this issue myself?
I'm also not sure before reinstalling the yoke if I should install a new seal as well. I looked very closely at the one I have in there now and also ran my finger around it. Nothing unusual and appears to be perfect. I'm hoping that it is OK to just go ahead and reuse this one???
But as to the initial leak, going deeper on the research, one thing I discovered is that if the rear end breather is clogged or blocked, it can cause elevated pressure and strong possibility of causing what I had initially, a leaking pinion seal. So I began looking for the breather. I found it. It sits on the right side, on the very top, just forward from the right axle. I can't see it because it's tucked way up there but found it by feel. It appears that these use a breather valve instead of a breather tube. But it is extremely difficult to get at. I tried to remove it to inspect it. It has a nut that can be loosened by using a 7/16" wrench. I don't think I'm going to be able to remove it easily. There is a steel plate immediately above it. I thought there might be just enough clearance to unscrew it and get it out but it doesn't appear to be the case. I was able to get it almost all the way out by feel but there is almost no way to get your fingers on this. At this point it was also almost to that steel plate so not sure if there would even be enough clearance to get it out even if I did get it loose. And then, not sure if I could even get it repositioned correctly to reinstall it. I ended up just tightening it back down again and will have to brainstorm some ideas. I guess I could try to remove the rear end mounting plate to maybe get rear end to drop a bit but it's connected to the ladder arms( not sure of correct name) that are attached to the rear wheel mounts and not sure that's a good idea. Maybe I would have to get a bit motivated and remover the trike body??? Not really interested in doing that either.
So right now I'm kind of at a standstill. I really don't want to go through reinstalling everything only to end up with a leak again because the breather may be blocked but can't find any easy way to check that breather valve so I may not have a choice.
Ideas???
So I dived back in and unbolted the driveshaft again. I figure that because of the the possibility that I compromised the liquid gasket, I might as well pull everything apart and redo it. Because I did reposition the rear end, I saved myself the extra step of unbolting and moving that. I then undid the pinion bolt. It took about the same force with air impact wrench to remove as it did when first going after the original leaking seal. After pulling the yoke, I inspected the new seal and it looks just fine. Around the metal part of the seal was a very small amount of grime but it wiped away. I cleaned up a bunch of the gasket stuff off the nut and hit it with some brake cleaner to remove it all. I did the same with the splines on the yoke. The pinion shaft may be a small problem. I don't really want to hit that with brake cleaner because I don't want that inside of the rear end mixing with gear oil. (I forgot to mention that I did drain the rear end again first...) Most of the gasket stuff seems to have come off the shaft by picking and peeling. It seems like I got the majority of it off though.
But this is where I'm at now. I haven't tried reinstalling anything yet. I've been doing a ton of Google research. One thing that popped out was that when using the Permatex Ultra Black silicone sealant is that you must have patience. I saw posts mentioning that when using it, initially install the components and only finger tighten them. Give it about an hour and then fully tighten the item. Then wait a full 24 hours before filling with any kind of oil or fluids. I didn't do this the first time. I used the silicone sealant where it was mentioned to do it, tightened it down, and then filled the rear end with gear oil right away. Maybe I caused this issue myself?
I'm also not sure before reinstalling the yoke if I should install a new seal as well. I looked very closely at the one I have in there now and also ran my finger around it. Nothing unusual and appears to be perfect. I'm hoping that it is OK to just go ahead and reuse this one???
But as to the initial leak, going deeper on the research, one thing I discovered is that if the rear end breather is clogged or blocked, it can cause elevated pressure and strong possibility of causing what I had initially, a leaking pinion seal. So I began looking for the breather. I found it. It sits on the right side, on the very top, just forward from the right axle. I can't see it because it's tucked way up there but found it by feel. It appears that these use a breather valve instead of a breather tube. But it is extremely difficult to get at. I tried to remove it to inspect it. It has a nut that can be loosened by using a 7/16" wrench. I don't think I'm going to be able to remove it easily. There is a steel plate immediately above it. I thought there might be just enough clearance to unscrew it and get it out but it doesn't appear to be the case. I was able to get it almost all the way out by feel but there is almost no way to get your fingers on this. At this point it was also almost to that steel plate so not sure if there would even be enough clearance to get it out even if I did get it loose. And then, not sure if I could even get it repositioned correctly to reinstall it. I ended up just tightening it back down again and will have to brainstorm some ideas. I guess I could try to remove the rear end mounting plate to maybe get rear end to drop a bit but it's connected to the ladder arms( not sure of correct name) that are attached to the rear wheel mounts and not sure that's a good idea. Maybe I would have to get a bit motivated and remover the trike body??? Not really interested in doing that either.
So right now I'm kind of at a standstill. I really don't want to go through reinstalling everything only to end up with a leak again because the breather may be blocked but can't find any easy way to check that breather valve so I may not have a choice.
Ideas???