Half Shaft Seal Replacement

[ALFAGTV6]

Was wondering if anybody has changed the halfshaft seals at the differential? I have a 1986 GTV6. I have removed the axle shafts out of the diff, do you press the shaft out of the bearing to change seal?

[koliver]

The shaft presses out of a ring that secures it from the backside of the seal/bearing housing
.
Once removed you'll see the seal - easy to replace.

Clean up any burrs on the stub shaft, install in housing and in bearing, heat the ring, press on quickly until it bottoms out.

Suggest not using the mounting ears at any time as a support as they will break off.

When I did mine, a small (3-5 ton) arbor press worked fine.

Hope this helps.

[ALFAGTV6]

Thanks for your help. You are correct, I just changed them on the weekend.
Thanks again

[tomp]

for future ref one of mine was really tight. Warming with the torch will in the press made all the difference. Help make install easy too.

[Graham D]

But what, pray tell, do you use if you don't have the 'special tool' to get under the retaining ring?

[tomp]

its a pretty std bearing extractor. Should be able to get it from MSC supply or a crappy one like mine from harbor freight.

[kredden]

Bringing this old thread back to life to ask a quick question. I used one of the harbor freight bearing separators with my press and got the retaining ring off the shaft without any problems. I had thought that the bearing part would then just slide off easily but it didn't. Do you have to press that off too?

Figured I'd ask before trying as I've messed up bearings doing that in the past and am not even sure the seals are leaking as this is a Platinum tranny I just got. There was quite a bit of goo caked on so I figured I'd changed all the seals before putting it on the car since I've had a set laying around for years and it is a lot easier to do while it is off the car!

Thanks,
Kevin

[kredden]

Got it all sorted. Turns out the bearing wasn't on nearly as tight as the retainer and some light pressure from the press and it came right off. I took some pics of the process for posterity.

#1 - Axle stub out
#2 - Harbor Freight bearing remover on retainer
#3 - In the press to remove the retainer, make sure the are oriented as shown on the plates, if they are the other way they WILL bend!
#4 - Retainer off, still in the separator
#5 - Using some 1/4" steel plate to remove the bearing plate, the stock press plates wouldn't work

Kevin

[kredden]

And all apart.

Kevin