Projects 57 Chevy Rear End Oil Fill Question

kinda hard to tell, but that noise could be the gears inside. Bearing roughness is a "finer" thing.

 

Hmmm, I'm having a hard time not wanting to give up. I've been at it fixing so many issues since January and have only gotten to drive it a few miles.

 

Do any of these videos help at all? Should I be worried? For now I just need to be able to drive the car short distances. I'm in the middle of selling my house.. the brakes for sure were needing attention and I was focusing on making the car drivable short distances for the next 6-12 months while I try to buy a house after renting for a while (if mine sells)

 

It's probably an exhaust leak.

 

Yep I should just blame everything on exhaust leaks.

I'm tempted to just leave this as is before I get further discouraged.

 

I filled the differential with new fluid to the bottom of the bolt hole. Prior to that I had to stick my finger in a bit to feel the fluid.

Unfortunately now I see why that is the case. I have a leak from the front part (not sure what its called, front pinion seal?) where the shaft connects. Is that a difficult seal to fix? The previous owner probably didn't notice the leak and just let it leak until the level was below the pinion seal.

I see Napa carries the 10 bolt gasket and the pinion seal and I will drain and refill the fluid. I'm guessing I can probably handle that but bearings would need specialty tools and a lot more work that maybe I could do some other time. Does anyone know if my thoughts seem reasonable?

 

You could let it leak out the rest of the way to where it was before, and not worry about it until you get the expertise needed to change the seal.

To do it properly take some tools, parts, and effort. But lots of guys just remove the nut, pull the yoke off, replace the seal, and put it all back together, and don't worry about the bearing preload being too high because of a worn crush sleeve...or they mark where the nut was tightened to, and return it to that position, without worrying about how much torque is on it.

 

Thanks so much for your advice. I think I can pop/pry the pinion seal out and mark the nut position, am I better off doing nothing if I can't take care of bearing preload and the crush sleeve, etc?

The bearing stuff seems too complicated given other things I'm taking care of at once(brakes, trans etc). I just wanted to take care of easier things that are leaking since I may be out of having a garage for 6mos to a year. This would likely start mid July so I was hoping to take care of things like this before then.

 

Do you think replacing the 10 bolt gasket is tricky as well regarding avoiding bearing pre-load if the assembly comes apart or is that not a factor? I was thinking of doing the 10 bolt gasket and the pinion seal and dealing with the crush sleeve and bearing some time later when I can get help from somebody with expertise.

 

If the gasket is not leaking much, I'd leave it alone for now. You know you have to pull the axles out to replace it...

 

Just save up and replace entire rear axle with a bigger one. Tri five rear end will be broken in no time anyway. Spider gears axles ring and pinion. Nothing about that rear end is strong.

 

Thanks, wow that's a hassle. It did leak from the gasket but a small leak over time. The pinion seal is leaking out much more since filling it to the bottom of the fill plug. I'm wondering if I should at least replace the pinion seal so there is more fluid in it at all times. I don't know if the fluid is too low if its below the level of the pinion seal?

Experience (or rather lack of) tells me I may introduce more issues messing with the pinion seal and get myself in a jam while trying to get the car more or less reliable for short drives in the next 6-12 months. I have about a month or two max to work on this and then I'm not sure where I'll be living (an apartment and maybe a 1 car garage if I'm lucky)

 

How much are you going to be driving it? If it's sitting most of the time, you can just leave it alone. It will be ok with the oil level a bit low.

 

Thanks for all your advice, I will drive it 20 to 30 miles max every other Sunday for the next 1 year once I get it just a little more issue-free. I need to gain more attachment to the car before putting a lot more money into it. I've some how spent about $2000 the last year on other stuff and am starting to feel the need to enjoy the car on the road or risk losing interest.

I'm not doing long trips or daily commuting with it. Any thoughts?

 

I would just leave it alone until you have the time to do it right.

 

Just something totally out of the blue, I have stopped pinion seals from leaking simply by cleaning the vent. If the vent is filled with dirt or a wasp nest the rear end can build up a little pressure and the seal can leak. Just my opinion .

 

Thanks, it is leaking and I haven't even driven it yet since I filled the fluid to the bottom of the plug hole so not sure there is pressure in there? Funny thing is I didn't really see it leak for a little while after filling it. Is it possible pressure built from temperature changes inside my house's garage? I didn't know about the vent, I'm only going to guess it must be dirty as the rest of the car has been full of crap and grease from the previous owner.

 

No if its leaking without driving it the vent probably isn't the cause.

 

So I checked last night. There isn't even a vent, there's just a hole... unbelievable..... this is the type of stuff I've run into with anything I've touched on the car.. in any case I ordered one. I'll have to live with the lower fluid level for now and take care of other more urgent things and then come back and maybe get someone with expertise to help.

 

I love threads like this because now I know more about chevy head problem fixes (check for exhaust leaks first, ha!) and 55/56/57/ or maybe 59 rear ends that I wouldnt have known otherwise so thanks, and heys it gives the old guys something to do...ha!!

 

Thanks, all these little problems are making feel like I'm aging much faster than I should be haha.

 

It should be mentioned (just on the 'off chance' that you may buy a later rear end just to have it for 'when') that the '55-'57 rear axle ass'y is interchangeable, (spring pads same, width, etc.)
But from 1958, suspension was changed to coil springs, and 'bracketry'.

There are 'how-tos' on UTube, so look up axle bearing removal/replacement, 3rd member gasket replacement, and take heed to Squirrel's method of seal replacement!
The operations mentioned are simple, after being shown. And only require a minimum of tools.
Good luck.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will hopefully get to the leaking stuff in the near future.

 

Im trying to figure mine out. The only one I have seen that has a fill plug on back is a 48 as far as the guy that is was a 48. Mine looks identical to the guy in question with the date code being. k47 which should be 11/4/47., or is it 58 ?? im so confused with 5000 different contradictions to whatever someone says. everyone says that the other guy is wrong. I dont know if I'll ever figure out what I have. Backing plates also only have lip over the top, not all the way around, like a 51 but then a guy said his was a 57 with that lip yet 30 pictures I see dont have the lip. very frustrating. Spent 40 hrs trying to see what I have in a hot rod just to change axle seals, bearings ad brakes