Okay I am at a loss as to how the heck to remove the rear diff cover to replace the seal. I was hoping to just take it out of the way to clean it up and I can't get the darn thing out because of the sway bar.
What should or do I do here?
thanks

If I recall correctly, the sway bar is kinked down in the middle to avoid going behind the rear axle cover. I believe what you are talking about is the panhard bar that mounts to the chassis on the driver side, and the axle assembly on the passenger side which is lower than the other end. The panhard bar locates the rear axle assembly side to side, so never drive without one! With the warning out of the way, here goes:

Jack up the rear of the car with it supported on jack stands at the rear jacking points on both sides under the rear doors. Once the rear wheels are off the ground, unbolt the nuts that hold the panhard bar to it's mounting studs at both ends and pull it off. Now you have full access to the rear diff cover.

Once done with the rear diff, reinstall the panhard bar keeping in mind that you might have to nudge the axle assembly to one side of the car or the other to get the mounts to line up again.

This would also be a great time to inspect the rubber bushings on the trailing arm bushings, upper torque rods, and panhard bar, replace as needed.

jorrell
--
92 245 307K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

Thank you . That all makes sense. Except nudging the axle to re-aline. Not sure if that is easy or difficult. I would not want to be unable to relocate the axle.
Thanks though for the info.
JW

It is not that difficult to nudge it into place as all of the locating arms for the rear axle have soft by now rubber bushings. The last time I installed a panhard bar with the whole rear suspension done in stiff polyurethane bushings, it took very little effort, perhaps 20 pounds of force to get the roughly 1/8th of an inch misalignment resolved.

My main reason for warning about not driving with the panhard bar out of there is I know more than a few folks that like to do a test drive and check for leaks before fully reassembling a lot of systems on a car. If you like, call me overly cautious. My intent is not to discourage you.

jorrell
--
92 245 307K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

"If you like, call me overly cautious" ---
I probably would not have thought to issue that warning but it's absolutely a valid point. The panhard rod bushings were much more of an issue on 544, 122 and 140/160 models and a quick road test around the block could easily uncover a bad one--the handling would be downright spooky. Without the rod--I can't imagine. -- Dave

Can you say "loosy goosy" along with tires grinding fenders on a bump? Even in a straight line the car would go down the road like a red tick coon hound, ie. sideways! All the panhard bar does is locate the axle to the car in the side to side axis.

jorrell
--
92 245 307K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!