anything else it could be? (there was no oil on the floor when i put the diff there)

 

Looks like it. Clean it up, spin it a bit, check it for leaks with your hand, and check it a few days later to see if there is more differential oil on the ground.

Does the fluid on the ground smell like diff. fluid?

 

My guess would be yes.

 

or your dog pissed on it.

 

There's nothing else it could really be, unless the housing cracked, which seems unlikely.

 

Yep. Is there pretty much a line of dark splatter underneath the car where the pinion is?

I have the same thing... Have the parts, but need the info on how to do it proper. If you figure it out, please post up so I can do it too.

 

it's in the FSM. i have to do this on two cars now this winter

 

Yeah I know it's in there. I'm just kinda scared of rebuilding it when it has such close tolerances and I've never done it before.

Don't forget the crush tube. I got one bearing but I guess there are two in the pinion. I may just get new bearings and seals for the whole thing.

 

Setting pinon preload is intimidating, but not hard if you follow instructions well. Just be sure to buy an extra crush sleeve if you mess it up.

 

you do not have to rebuild the differential to replace the pinion seal, regardless of what the FSM may say.

you just have to be careful when retorquing the nut back down, don't just impact it on there.

 

Absolutely. There's the "right" way, then there's the way that is reasonable and actually works. I've replaced many pinion seals without rebuilding differentials before, never had a problem.

 

I was going to scribe lines on the nut and the end of the shaft so I got it back to where it was originally. But I do have access to a beam torque wrench so I can do it "right."

 

anyone who has done this have any tips?

 

the manual states that you check the torque prior to removing the nut...

its pretty easy to do... just put a torque wrench on the nut as if you were tightening the nut... observe the torque spec when you see the nut begin to spin... it should be in the neighborhood of 94-130 ftlb
http://www.cochran-racing.com/FSM/s4...REAR_AXLES.pdf see page 9-23

 

in/lb. Not ft/lb!! That's one hefty bit of preload.


Look at pg 9-12, where it shows the guy taking off the axle nut with a flex beam torque wrench.

 

First of all, all you NEED to do is take the nut off and pull the pinion flange and seal out carefully of course. DONT SCRIBE THE NUT! I guarantee you will not reach the same torque as before using this method. Use the torque in the manual. It's not rocket science.

 

might as well buy a new nut...i did. it's less than $10