I replaced my slush Omatic transmission, drive shaft and rear end a little over a year ago with an M47, drive shaft and rear end from a donor car, believe it was an 90 or 91.

So almost immediately I noticed that they pinion seal was seeping and now I'm finally getting around to fixing it. So a couple of questions.

1. Must I drain the differential first before working on it?
2. How do I figure out the torque spec of the nut when I'm putting it back on? The green manual Section 4, Group 46 states that there are 3 possibilities:
a. nut 88626 (3/4" UNF): 175 220 ft.lbs.
b. nut 946831 (3/4" UNF): 150-18f5t .lbs.
c. nut 947855 (M20x1.5): 150-18f5t .lbs

Anything else I'm gonna need to know before doing this?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

My experience with a 1976 Dodge B300 van may be relevant in some respects, maybe not. When I purchased the van it had a long time leak at the pinion seal.

This first part below does not have applicability to your situation as you have a plethora of torque specs! Have you checked the axle id to determine if a crush sleeve is involved? Apparently there is a crush sleeve if there is an 'S' on the id tag.

1. Not having torque specs at the time or knowledge if a crush sleeve was involved, I marked the pinion nut, broke it free with an impact wrench, then carefully counted the turns till it came free.

2. When removed, the seal surface on the pinion shaft showed a very definite groove. It's been a while so I don't remember the grit paper I started with to remove the groove, probably something pretty fine like 600. I stropped the shaft (as you would when polishing a shoe) turning it 90 degrees at a time to even out the removal. I then finished with crocus cloth giving it a nice shine.

3. After putting in a new seal, reinstallation followed the same pattern as removal, with the exception of tightening the pinion nut with a breaker bar. I gave it a good tug after the mark reached it's original position. My theory was, if a crush sleeve was present, this would put things roughly back where they needed to be.

Although some might cringe at my seal surface reconditioning method, there were no leaks during the next 50,000 miles I owned the van.

I have been unable to find a way of identifying the three nuts listed in the green book (apparently official Volvo mechanics are/were clairvoyant). In your situation I'd probably use 185 foot pounds which would put you within all the stated torque ranges. Normally I'd shoot for mid-range, but here you're kinda working in the dark.

Tatra Mike

Seattle, Washington

1985 244 "Alfsen" (wife's car - the good one)
1984 245 "Buster" (the kid's car, now sold)
1985 245 "Cosmo" (parts car, sold off for move to WA)
1985 245 "Daisy" (back seat down, full of tools, the work truck)
1985 245 "Earl (CA vehicle 'retirement' program)

Can you tell I prefer the 1985 model 240? Better headlights than the plastic 1986+ and nicer belt adjustments than the 1984s and earlier!

Tatra Mike,

"Apparently there is a crush sleeve if there is an 'S' on the id tag."

I started looking for this on the drivers side axle portion, but gave up after having seen the amount of crud there to remove.

Is this normal? Is it closer to the differential or closer to the wheel?

Thanks,

Matt