THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

I'm going to replace the o-ring on my axle shaft at the differential. Am I going to need to replace the ring metal also ?

Only if you damage it during removal.

I am interested to know how you remove it without cracking the diff. Mine are in there good and I am afraid to pull on it, while some say theirs just fall out when they unscrew it from the case.

I use a 5 in one painters tool(knife) and I tap it in behind the flange arround the ring. little by little. Dont get in a hurry and pry with a nail bar or something. It will break the welds holding the flange to the ring.

Andre wrote:I use a 5 in one painters tool(knife) and I tap it in behind the flange arround the ring. little by little. Dont get in a hurry and pry with a nail bar or something. It will break the welds holding the flange to the ring.

Ah, and how would you happen to know this?

I was able to pull it off with my fingers after removing the screws.

19D20 wrote:I was able to pull it off with my fingers after removing the screws.

Nice!

What kind of sealant do you use when reinstalling, if any?

berger wrote:

19D20 wrote:I was able to pull it off with my fingers after removing the screws.

Nice!

What kind of sealant do you use when reinstalling, if any?

This is what I used.

The proper sealant(closest to factory) is Permatex aviation sealant. It is the only sealant used on the entire driveline. Or you can use Aneroibic sealer. Silicone is messy and makes future removal very difficult. One last tip, you will have to super glue the replacement o rings into the bores or they will fall and cut while installing the stop rings.
Read the repair manual, those stop ring seals must be lubed with a silicate jell.

Jim LaGuardia wrote:The proper sealant(closest to factory) is Permatex aviation sealant. It is the only sealant used on the entire driveline. Or you can use Aneroibic sealer. Silicone is messy and makes future removal very difficult. One last tip, you will have to super glue the replacement o rings into the bores or they will fall and cut while installing the stop rings.
Read the repair manual, those stop ring seals must be lubed with a silicate jell.

Does super glue on the o-rings not dry them out or make them inflexible?

What do you recommend for the silicate gel?

Common sense, put a drop in the groove, hold o ring until glue dries then move to the next few inches until it is held in the groove(no glue on side that contacts the ring). These stop and O rings are supposed to be installed with the diff split open.
But as Andre wrote, if the o ring is still in place and supple just clean the old sealant from the bores without damaging the rubber.
Make sure there is no oil residue before applying sealant. The silicate lube is a clear 3M product. You can find it at NAPA, it can also be called silicate brake pin lube, the anearobic sealant is called permatex gasket maker, product #px 51813, it is translucent red and fills gaps up to .050" and only cures into a flexible skin like membrane.
Have fun, I just replaced all 6 stop rings, boots on a 6x6(yes all 6 portals had to come off )

If anyone is in process of doing this, it would be a good candidate for pics and a post in the technical section.

Those pictures are already out there.

Don't know if this would be applicable in this case but whenever I have to deal with O-rings I use good old fashion Petroleum Jelly. It is sticky enough to temporarily hold it in place while providing some lubricant to keep it from twisting while installing the two parts together. Like I said don't know if this would work in this case as I have yet to have the pleasure of doing this task.

Miles

The O rings are smaller than the bore, Normally these are serviced with the diff halves apart, the O ring is stretched and slid onto the stop ring and dropped into place in the lower case half, sealant is applied, o ring positioned to fit into upper case groove as it is assembled.
Once the case halves are torqued down, the stop ring is pushed into place by hand and then the 4 retainers(allen screws) are tightened.
Using super glue was my creative solution to leak prevention from field repairs.