Repack the Bearing?

[steveO]

I have the front passenger side CV shaft and seal out.
The bearing behind the seal is intact but its grease is black and dirty, I don't see the fluid getting up into this area or at least mine is dry and has always been that's way as it looks.

I was going to repack the bearing with standard wheel bearing grease, the bearing is pressed in so it cant be removed and cleaned.

Thoughts ?
Suggestions?
:thx

[brendanpower]

The bearing in the front end?

If so, you might want to check the level of the oil in the front diff, as it should be lubricating that bearing....

Someone correct me if Im wrong, because Ive never worked on one of these front ends...

[markarock]

The front bearing is lubricated with 75W-90 synthetic gear oil. Not grease. Should be two quarts in there (the front diff).

Check out this thread. It has some photos.

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=45202

Check out this thread also.

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=47186

If yours is dry, and has been for a while, you might be in for a big bill. The bearing assembly is over $100 and a dealer only item. The front seal is dealer only as well, but not expensive at all.

I'd pull the bottom drain plug (small one) and see how much comes out. Then remove the top big plug at about 10:00 and fill with two quarts of new fluid--after you have reinstalled the axle. Easiest way is with a pump of some sort.

Then cross your fingers that there was enough gear oil in there to prevent any damage.

EDIT: Just realized that the passenger side may be different, and may just use grease, not gear oil. Mea Culpa. I never had that side apart.

[steveO]

I posted the photo of the passenger side without the seal which clearly shows the bearing I'm talking about.

If you zoom in on it you can see grease on the inside but no evidence of gear oil.

When I changed the fluid I took out what seemed to be full or near full fluid level.
I replaced it with GM gear oil putting in what was called for in the manual.

I drove it for a week with the new fluid so if fluid is supposed to get up into this area why isn't it? The seal was dry with the exception of some grease.

I have 100K on it so it must have been like this all along.

I'm puzzled and concerned because if that bearing is supposed to see differential fluid and hasn't it might be shot.

I'm going to inspect it further.

Edit: I inspected it as good as I could the area is not all that dirty, the only lubrication in there is grease and not that much.
The bearing is tight and seems to roll smooth and is packed with grease.


http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=49313

[markarock]

Yep. Must be that the passenger side is different than the driver's side. Maybe someone with easy access to a manual can help.

[steveO]

Visited the dealer to get the seal issue resolved and decided to ask service my question.

Seal:
The passenger side seal is 12479055, this is the outer most seal.
I was told that this seal is not always the same number and the best way to get the correct seal is to use the housing number IE the part number of the housing that holds the seal. ( I have not looked for this number)
They were able to use the numbers on the seal itself to obtain a part number.

The seal is dry (dust seal) more than likely unless it's crumbling you shouldn't need to replace it.

Bearing:
Bearing just inside of the seal should be lubricated with wheel bearing grease.

Unlike the drivers side differential oil does not lubricate this area.

Hope this helps someone who decides to tackle this job in the future.:m2:

Thanks to all who posted to my threads!

[brendanpower]

Interesting:undecided

[ylab]

Not only that, but the front diff takes 1 Qt to fill....not the 2 listed above. I just changed the front & rear fluids, as well as the transfer case on Sunday. The front is full, after placing 1 Qt into it. (Weird fill hole! - But sure makes getting the new stuff in easy).

The rear diff and transfer case both take 2 Qts. Synthetic 75W90 for the diff and Autotrac or Equiv for the Xfer case....I used Royal Purple for all three, with SynchroMax going into the Xfer case. (SynchroMax is an Autotrac equivalent, if you can't find Autotrac 2 fluid locally).