I hear you Ron. It becomes a game of where to stop. I should drain the two diffs too. Then while the diffs are open, pull the axles and replace my backing plates, but while those are off good time to change the wheel bearings ... 
Rear Main Oil Seal
- Thread starter Larryjb
- Start date
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Git 'R Done. Yes, a great time to drain the diffs. Get all fluids at ground zero. Do the brake fluid as well. Coolant can remain on it's own cycle.
Hope you are in a heated garage there during Canuck weather/cold.
Hope you are in a heated garage there during Canuck weather/cold.
It's a nice 10-15°C during the day here. That's probably about 55-60°F.
Brake fluid I'll do when I fix my ABS module. I'm probably going to have to disconnect the lines because the torx screws are rusted and stripped out. I have a 2-way scantool that will allow me to bleed the ABS pump when the time comes. If I have time, I'll do the diffs. It will depend on what happens with the schools around here. We have a 2 week break so far, and with all the other things on my to-do list, I'll have to see. Diff fluid is easy to do anytime. I also have a heater pipe to fix on the Explorer, a garage to clean out, my father needs a parking brake foot pedal replaced as well, my sister's car needs the parking brake adjusted. As you can see, there are lots of priorities.
If I had done diffs before, and knew I could do it in 15 minutes, sure I'd do it. The reality is that I work very slowly and the job would take me a couple of hours.
Wait, Ron, you're a hop skip and a jump away in OR. Come on up. Oh wait, Trudeau said no visitors
latvius
Full Access Member
I dunno but I don't change rear main seals very often so I don't have experience to give a good answer. That said I only wanted to pull the transmission once.
Might be an unnecessary tool for some but it's been about a year with no oil leaks so I would do it again.
latvius
Full Access Member
Mine was metal and easy to remove and reinstall so no you don't need another one.
Thanks all, I've put the order in. I'll have to get fluids locally, but I should have most of what I need by Friday. That gives me 4 days left to clean the garage.
I also ordered a Milwaukee high torque cordless impact. It boasts something like 1200 ft lbs nut busting torque. I may have to get a longer extension for the upper tranny bolts, but I may be able to make do with weird combinations of my own extensions.
I also ordered a Milwaukee high torque cordless impact. It boasts something like 1200 ft lbs nut busting torque. I may have to get a longer extension for the upper tranny bolts, but I may be able to make do with weird combinations of my own extensions.
Why do you think you need a nut busting torque wrench to remove the bellhousing nuts? They’re small and the bellhousing is aluminum so all I used was a 3/8” ratchet to loosen them, then a 4’ extension and removed them the rest of the way by hand. Unless you’re talking about using that impact on some bigger bolts I wouldn’t bother.
It's not for the tranny bolts. I might need some for the exhaust flange bolts. Having a cordless will be useful for removing lug nuts too. This job was more of an excuse to get that toy. I might need that kind of torque in the future, like the rear wheel bearings of our Explorer.
Oh no, don’t use those on the exhaust flange bolts or they’re sure to snap! Slow is the way to go on those. But I’m sure you’ll find something to use it on!
