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ATF dripping from front drive shaft?

So, I've now gotten the front end torn down and all parts spread out on garage floor awaiting reassembly. I pulled the knuckle and took it to a shop to have my Moog's pressed in because the press i rented to do the job wouldn't actually do the job; cost me $45 at a local shop. I get the knuckle home to put it back on the truck and realize the zyrks were not installed yet so i start to put them on. Well, turns out that the top bj has no threads in the opening so i hammered it in, and the bottom bj hole is too small to receive the zyrk. WTF! Not sure what to do next....maybe ill hammer the other one in I got the new seals into the axle....that was a fun job.....after using my jack handle to clean out the axle tubes of all the gunk that was built up in there..."the butt end of the spindle nut socket worked nicely for hammering the seals in"...only after having to go back to NAPA to get the correct ones because Oreilly's gave me the wrong seals for wrong vehicle. And the kid at the napa counter had to go thru each individual seal to find the right one because they do not list an internal axle seal. It is listed in their system as a pinion seal, at least thats how it is here in lakewood, CO.
Today i replace axle shaft u-joints and hopefully start getting truck reassemled. That is if advance auto actually gave me the correct ujoints. :doah:
 
Dang. That's annoying. Sounds like how my projects go too. I'm surprised about the zerk fittings.

Not that it will actually help you now, but Randy's Ring and Pinion is probably the only place I'll ever buy axle stuff from in the future. Their customer service is AMAZING. You call them and they know part numbers off the top of their heads when you tell them what axle and part you're looking for! :wink1: :waytogo:
 
U-joints.....done!
Axle shafts installed!....wheel bearings repacked and hubs assembled! Hope I got nuff grease in there. I did notice while wiping old grease off bearings from drivers side that there were some jagged particles in the grease around the bearing but the bearing appears to be fine and I didn't notice anything inside hub that would raise alarms. Also upon reassembly of hubs I noticed that parts on passenger side contained an extra washer type shim which wasn't present in the driver side hub....after consulting "pro" at high country 4x4 decided that it shouldn't be there and assembled without it. Not sure how or why it was there.
Brake calipers re installed but after getting em on I noticed that the outside brake pads have been seperated from the wafer thin backing that is spot welded to the back of the pad with the eyes that reach up and go around the caliper bolts that I deduce are there to help keep the pads from moving within the caliper.... but now the outside pads have about 1/8" movement up or down inside caliper.....outers on both sides.
Question.....is this normal to have the pads moving in there? Should I just plan to replace the pads all together?...they are fairly new with very few miles (200maybe) or wear but they are the pads that came with the calipers I bought from NAPA last summer. It appears the backing became separated due to heat generated from the friction caused by braking. If they do need to be replaced can someone recommend a quality brand that wont have this issue?:pimp:
 
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Zerk fittings come in all different size and thread types.
Plus there are several that are hammer in by design. The hole has no threads, and the zerk that fits it has tapered teeth that let it slide in but bite into the metal and lock it in place.

I had one get damaged on the top roller for my cantilever gate. I unscrewed it, but could not find one the right size or thread.
I suspect it was metric.
Since it was in a fairly noncritical location, with little or no stress on it, I just bought a hammer in type close to the right size and hammered her past the threads.

Been working fine for several years.
 
All back together, but realized upper bj on drivers side cannot be lubed with hub and axle on the truck. So will pull back apart to lube.
Next project will be figuring out why the hell the tranny is still spraying fluid from the pan gasket. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very Frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!:confused:
 
Why can't you grease the upper ball joint? That's weird.

As to your leaking transmission fluid, I can't remember all the stuff that folks have suggested to you throughout, so I'll just make a quick list of things to consider/check.... maybe you've done them all already. :)

- Is your dipstick tube seated properly? Is it leaking there?

- Are your pan bolts tightened evenly to the proper torque? I recently changed my fluid/filter, and I think it required 13 lb-ft.

- Have you changed your fluid/filter recently? If not, perhaps you ought to just try replacing those and using the new gasket that comes with a filter kit. Mine was rubber, seems to be working well.
 
i can lube my upper bj fine with it together.i have a 45 degree fitting on my grease gun though.much easier to get lube to those tight places.giggity
 
the zerk fitting on the bj is dead center on flat side which rides directly over the axle shaft with only about 1/8" clearing max. no room to get grease gun nozzle over it
 
How about a 45* zerk fitting + a needle fitting for delivering the grease?
 
Well, after re-checking the torque of the bolts on the tranny pan, I noticed that one of them will not cinch down. Gets oh so close then pops loose. Figured this may be the source of my problems and am going to try and get a tap kit to redo the hole and see if that fixes it, unless of course i can find some sort of insert that will help fix this problem, and will do a new pan gasket while im at it
 
So, i had a friend from work suggest a heli-coil to repair the stripped out pan bolt. Went to advance auto and found a kit that would fit for $30 and a new pan gasket. Going to attempt to repair it that way, that is of course unless somebody out there can make a convincing argument against it. Never heard of a heli coil before, let alone used one but i watched several youtube how to's in various applications and figured it should b well within my abilities. Will return with an update after it's done:thumb:
 
Heli-coils are the ****! An absolute necessity on these old trucks. My TH400 has several pan bolts with Heli-coils in the trans housing. No problems there.

Hell, even my 14 bolt rear axle has 3 holes for the pinion carrier heli-coiled, and they are holding to the 65 ft-lbs called for in the manual.
 
Is your trans only leaking on a 2-3 downshift? Or all the time? How tight are you tightening the pan bolts to?

Heli coils aren't too bad to install. I do a lot of them on transmissions from people over tightening the pan bolts.
 
Yes, it's only spraying from the pan gasket during high pressure such as when it downshifts while getting into throttle, trying to climb a hill or such. It appears that one of the pan bolts was overtightened at some point and that is where i intend to put the coil in.
 
So i finally pulled the tranny pan to attempt the heli coil install. Turns out, the one hole that is not completely accessable to drill out and install heli coil is the one hole on the pan that requires the fix. Wouldn't ya know it! So I undo the front drive shaft from the differential to get access to it and put the longest extension in the drill to maneuver around the exhaust pipe, and get the old threads cleaned up. Take my cutting tap and drive it in. Take and install the coil. Pretty effortless so far. I get my new pan gasket lined up with the bolt holes. Get the pan re-connected to the tranny. Going around cinching up the bolts, getting them ready to be torqued down. Get around pan to final bolt which is the one that i just put the coil in and start driving it in. gets almost there for torquing and the bolt shears off flush with the hole. Wouldn't you effin know it! no job on this damn truck can be simple. It's as though the mechanic gods are very very cruel, using me as their own personal jester. By this point my arms are dead tired from ratcheting in the bolts, 2 different head sizes i might add because last time i replaced the gasket i had to replace a couple bolts with rounded heads and of course the auto parts store carries same size bolts but with metric heads instead of standard and my dumbass just replaced the rounded ones instead of all of them so here i am switching back and forth between 3/4"drive with 1/2" socket and 1/2"drive with 12mm socket:doah: trying to get them all evenly cinched snug. AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!
So now today, i guess i try and get the bolt backed out and replaced.... think ill replace all the bolts to one head size, while i'm at it.
 
Dang! Sorry to hear it!! For what it's worth, I believe the proper torque spec for those bolts is 15 lb-ft - so not a whole lot of torque is necessary for the job.
 
between 3/4"drive
Click to expand...

Uh.....if you are shearing off pan bolts.....you are doing something wrong....

Here is my standard cure for leaking trans pans....

First..throw away the stamped metal pan and invest in a cast aluminum pan.
This cures several issues at once...it has a thick flange that doesn't
Warp all to hell around every bolt hole,, most pans come with extra capacity and a drain plug.

Second, run a tap into ever hole to clean the threads, wash them out with brake clean. Helicoil loose or stripped holes.

Third....use a steel and silicone pan gasket,such as a lube locker or B&M's

Torque to spec...retorque after a test ride to heat everything up..
 
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