[Pontiac Dave]

I was working on my 68 Firebird rear end today, replacing the pinion seal. I removed the pinion nut and washer, then proceeded to pull the flange off with a gear puller. I got it to come out about a quarter of the way, when I noticed that the pinion shaft had alot of play up and down, sideways, in and out. Is this normal or did I damage the bearings possibly? The flange is difficult to get off. I tried heating the flange and icing the shaft and still no luck on removing it. I've changed a few pinion seals on Chevy rear ends with no problems....are Pontiac rear ends different? What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help.

[LPete]

Without the pinion flange, the bearings are free to move on the pinion shaft, and the shaft will move around a lot. That is not a problem.

I'm not sure what to suggest about the flange not coming off. Maybe it got cocked and needs to be straightened out?

[lust4speed]

Pontiac and Chevys and most others are all the same. Just keep convincing it off. Like LPete said, loosening the pinion nut and moving the yolk allows the bearings to slide away from the races and opens up a bunch of clearance side to side. I've used a large slide hammer on difficult ones.

[Pontiac Dave]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give it another try. I'm using a gear puller and impact gun instead of a slide hammer. Is that okay? The yoke is slowly pulling out. As soon as I felt it the pinion starting to move around, I stopped for fear that I ruined the bearings. Is it possible to put too much pressure on the yoke and ruin the bearings or crush sleeves with an impact gun? My impact gun has 100 ft. lbs. of torque. I know that the yoke takes more than that from the engine torque. Am I just being too paranoid about damaging the pinion or can the pinion take some abuse without damaging it?

[Pontiac Dave]

Got it! Thanks for the help. The bearings are fine.