Some of you have asked if I do a tutorial on rebuilding the differentials on you SX and ES. I have four differentials to rebuild so I will do a tutorial during one of them. I won't be starting this for a few days but I'm getting things together. Once I get rolling on this, please refrain from posting until I complete the tutorial so the information flows smoothly. Once it's complete, then please post your questions and comments so stand by.
Alright boys and girls. As promised I'm going to do this tutorial on rebuilding the differentials for the ES and SX.
First, lets look at the two types of kits available on Ebay.
The first kit is the economy kit. It comes with everything shown but when you compare the pics, you will see a huge difference between the economy kit and the All Balls kit.
Both kits come with:
Ring gear bearings (2)
Ring gear seals (2)
Pinion Needle bearing (1)
Pinion shaft bearing (1)
Propeller shaft water seal (1)
Now, look at the two pictures. Note the difference in the ring gear bearings and pinion shaft bearing. The economy kit comes with sealed precision bearings and the All Balls kit comes with open race bearings. Why is this important? Because the differential is a bath lubrication and having sealed bearings does not allow the oil to get to the bearings. This will eventually lead to epic failure.
The other difference is the propeller shaft water seal. The All Balls water seal is reinforced on the ID. The economy kits is not. These two major differences is why I don't buy the economy kits even if I'm just changing the ring gear bearings and seals.
Next, lets look at the tools you will need to disassemble and reassemble the differential. To do this job correctly, you will need the following:
Cold chisel (used to cut the propeller shaft water seal)
Ball peen
Small punch (used to stake the pinion shaft bearing retaining ring during assembly)
Pinion shaft holding fixture (this is essential to lock the pinion shaft to remove and install the gear lock nut on the end of the pinion shaft)
60mm torks bit (used to remove and install the pinion shaft bearing retaining ring)
12mm socket
14mm socket
22mm socket
28mm socket
Foot pound torque wrench
Blind hole bearing puller with a 1/2 inch tip
1/2 inch drive impact
Modified blind hole bearing tip with a pinion shaft gear retaining nut welded to it. (This is used to pull the pinion shaft out of the case) A brass drift can be used in lieu of this but I'll explain this later.
Freezer (to freeze the bearings for installation)
Oven (to heat the case and pinion shaft for installation)
Dial indicator mounted to an adjustable arm with a magnetic base (used to check the gear backlash)
Feeler gage .012-.24 inch (for measuring the gap between the ring gear and ring gear stop)
Screwdriver (for prying the case apart)
17mm wrench (to remove the oil fill cap)
Split bearing tool (for removing the pinion shaft bearing from the pinion shaft)
As you can see, this is a pretty involved process. The pinion gear holding fixture is really a show stopper for most of you. No longer available from Honda I got lucky and found this one on Ebay. I bought a second one but Dave Little bought that one from me. Unless you have mad scientist fab skills and the tools to make something similar, you don't have any way of getting the nut off the end of the pinion shaft. Trying to jam the pinion shaft to remove the nut usually ends in breaking the gear on the end of the pinion shaft. Its hardened but that makes it brittle. In any case, the pinion shaft holding fixture is essential in rebuilding the differential.
Please hold any comments until I get completely through this tutorial. If you have questions along the way, shoot me a message. The next part to come is the disassembly which I'll get in to later today.
Next, place a screwdriver in the slots on the side of the cover and pry the cover apart from the case. DO NOT put the screwdriver between the cover and the case as you will damage the sealing surface. Use the slots.
Remove the shim from the ring gear and mark it "Right Side". Remove the ring gear from the case. Remove the other shim and mark it "Left Side". I put them in ziplock bags. Set the ring gear and shims aside. At this point you can remove the ring gear seals and bearings from the cover and case. Discard the old bearings and seals.
Attach the pinion gear holding fixture to the differential and secure in a vice.
This is where I will lose a bunch of you because of the pinion gear holding fixture or lack of. If you are doing just the ring gear bearings and seals then stop here and reassemble in reverse order. I should also note that for guys who are so inclined, this fixture can be made pretty easily with an old propeller shaft and a little bit of 1/4 plate steel. Cut off about 1 1/2 of the differential end of the propeller. Bore a hole in the plate and weld the cut piece of the propeller shaft to the plate centering it up on the hole. Weld a piece of plate on it as shown about 2" long and about an inch high. There really many ways you could fabricate this tool. Remember the goal is to lock the pinion gear so the nut retaining the gear on the end of the pinion shaft can be removed and reinstalled but you will need an old propeller shaft to sacrifice to do that. It has the matching splines you need. I think I have an old unserviceable propeller shaft if someone wants to make one. Just cover shipping and you can have it.
Remove the nut on the end of the pinion shaft. I use an impact with the 22mm socket. Set the nut aside and remove the differential from the holding fixture. Remove the gear from the end of the pinion shaft and set aside.
Here is where I put the cover back on the case and mount it in a vice. Take a sharp chisel and place it on the edge of the propeller shaft water seal and using a , cut the seals outer metal band to remove it. Be careful with the chisel so you don't damage the inside of the case.
Insert the 60mm torks bit in to the pinion shaft bearing retaining ring. Put the 28mm socket on the impact and remove the retaining ring and set aside.
Honda made a tool for removing the pinion shaft from the case but haven't found one so I made this. I took a blind hole bearing removal tip and welded a spare pinion shaft nut to it. It works very well.
Remove the pinion shaft from the case. The pinion shaft will come out of the case with the pinion shaft bearing on it.
Now comes time to remove the infamous needle bearing. This bearing is the single most point of failure in these differentials. Replacing this bearing is key to preserving the life of these differentials.
Insert a 1/2" blind hole bearing removal tip in to the needle bearing and tighten the tip. Attach the slide assembly and remove the needle bearing from the case and throw that thing in the trash.
The last thing to the disassembly is removing the pinion shaft bearing from the pinion shaft. There is a shim under the bearing so don't lose it. Clamp the split bearing removal tool around the bottom of the bearing and under the bottom race and remove the bearing from the pinion shaft. Set the pinion shaft and shim aside and discard the bearing. As you can see, Honda used a three piece bearing. They did this so the bearing can be preloaded. Preloading is done to keep them from destroying themselves under heavy load. The replacement bearing is not a three piece but still has to be preloaded but I'll get in to that during assembly.
Power User
Teaching quads a lesson
, cut the seals outer metal band to remove it. Be careful with the chisel so you don't damage the inside of the case.
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