atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

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scherrit
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atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by scherrit »

Hi,
I have searched high and low and can find no mention of how to replace the FRONT oil seal on the Atlas- in other words the one sealing the flange that the prop shaft bolt to.

I have cleaned the diff properly today with degreaser and a power washer (great day for getting wet and truly filthy!) and I am not entirely sure that it's the back cover or cover gasket- oil seems to be coming from the front..... which might mean a gasket leak and an oil seal leak- what is the best advice- do the gasket anyway and then see, or is the flange easy enough to get off (looks like a BEEG nut holding it on)?

Appreciate some steerage if someone has done this job recently.
S/
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stevemarl
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by stevemarl »

scherrit wrote: do the gasket anyway and then see,

That`s what I`d do. And pray. If you undo the front nut you`ve got to get it back in exactly the same position when refitted, as there is a crushable spacer behind it which determines preload on pinion bearing etc. Probably better done on a bench.
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by nigecapri »

Your safest bet - even though I do usually recommend diy - is to find a decent transmission specialist and pay the man, he'd be done in less than an hour. It's the pinion oil seal in the front of the differential, if that's your leak. The nut needs replacing as it's a staked nut that needs hammer & chisel to secure it & you won't get the right torque with just a ratchet wrench - it's a long bar job. It should also have a new crush spacer fitted then torqued up to specification and that means making a special tool to hold against the pinion flange (that the propshaft bolts to.) Not an easy job with home mechanic tools and no lift. Not at all easy with just the rear jacked up as you need room to move so from getting out ramp & axle stands you'd probably be done in less than a day.
scherrit
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by scherrit »

Brilliant, really appreciate the help! Funny I couldn't find much on web, so I will do the gasket first then see if it still leaks, then get a diff expert to do the seal if required- I will tackle most things but soemtimes the price and high specificity of the tools required or the sheer time saving from using a specialist is worth it.

Thanks again.
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by scherrit »

A few weeks after doing the gasket, all good a few runs out and about and no oil leaks- looks like I got lucky.....
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stevemarl
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by stevemarl »

Thanks for the update, glad it was a simple fix.
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by r2vdh »

This can be done at home...
I usually mark the Nut and flange faces then remove.
Prise out the old gasket and fit the new one.
Then refit everything back in the same order and tighten to the same marking.
I usually then go 1mm pass the marking. have done quite a few like this with no issues.

Normally when setting up you should use a strain gauge to measure the force required to turn the axle when tightening the pinion nut. you also have to do a lot of shimming and adjusting internally to set the backlash, gear meshing.
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Re: atlas oil leak- front oil seal?

Post by stevemarl »

It was just the gasket leaking, not the oil seal.
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