1994 944T equipped with an Eaton 1041 locking differential that had a leaking pinion seal.

The FAQ’s had a lot of valuable information. I made a counter hold tool out of a piece of angle iron as shown there. Before removing the driveshaft I marked the positions at both ends by grinding a line on the edge of the assembly with a die grinder.



The pinion nut was 30mm or 1 3/16 in. The problem was the flange only provided 42mm of diameter for a socket. I had a six point socket but it was too “thick” at 43mm and a friends 30mm impact socket was even bigger. I used my bench grinder to reduce the size of the end of my socket to be able to reach into the space. I used an impact to remove the pinion nut as the long ½” breaker bar and my arms were not getting it done in the space I was working in (jack stands).

I marked the position of the flange on the shaft by first using paint and then following up with a couple of punch marks once I got the flange off. The FAQ’s indicated the importance of assembling things the way they came apart. I used a puller to remove the flange.


The procedure in the FAQ’s for removing the old seal worked fine, but it was not willing to come easy. The big screwdriver method tore things up a lot but did not break it free. The advice of bending back the lip about half way around loosened its grip and it pulled free.




The large washer is between the seal and the bearing. I took it out to be able to pack a paper towel in the space to insure keeping any stray debris away from the bearing during cleanup. Probably unnecessary to remove the washer but with two small dental picks I was able to remove it- a magnet might have worked as well.

There was a deposit of rust on the inside diameter of the housing that needed to be removed to provide the right size for installation of the new seal. I used a dremel with a stone to grind off the rust and smooth out some nicks from the big screwdriver aggression.



Once things were cleaned up I greased up the seal (Volvo part #9143317) and tapped it in place using a brass hammer. I did not have a large enough socket to use to drive it in as far as the original was and initially worried that perhaps it was not deep enough. It would be better for the new seal to ride on a different portion of the flange, but I didn’t want the flange to rub on the outer steel portion of the seal. I found that driving the seal in so that the edge was flush with the housing did not bring the flange into contact with the steel portion of the seal on finally assembly.

I positioned the flange using the punch marks and tapped it onto the greased shaft far enough to engage the splines about ½”. I reinstalled the counter hold tool and tightened the nut which pushed the flange home.

Torque specs for the pinion nut is 148-184 ft lbs. I borrowed a wrench that went to 150. I was unable to get a click at the 150 setting laying on the concrete and working in the space provided by the jack stands. I was able to position myself to get a foot on it and first got the 150 ft lb click and then just a bump more of torque which would have ended up being somewhere in the spec range.

It is hard to assign a difficulty factor to this repair. There was the additional time of having to make the counter hold tool and grinding the socket to fit the flange nut. I am glad they don’t often have to be replaced but it is far easier than doing a rear main seal.