Ford 8 inch rear questions

I have an 8 inch rear end that I took from a 78-80 Granada. Grease was leaking on the pass. side so pulled the shaft. Afterward looked into housing and found a round, approx. 1 3/4 in. diameter spring close to the seal. Figured it became dislodged from the seal upon shaft removal. Can I just use a simple seal puller and then reiinsert? I've been told that it can only be done by a shop and it has to be pressed in.
Also, would like to change rear fluid. There is no drain plug or bolt on rear cover. Can a vacuum pump be used, or does the front have to come off, or are there other options?
Mike

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Originally posted by 46yblock
I have an 8 inch rear end that I took from a 78-80 Granada. Grease was leaking on the pass. side so pulled the shaft. Afterward looked into housing and found a round, approx. 1 3/4 in. diameter spring close to the seal. Figured it became dislodged from the seal upon shaft removal. Can I just use a simple seal puller and then reiinsert? I've been told that it can only be done by a shop and it has to be pressed in.
Also, would like to change rear fluid. There is no drain plug or bolt on rear cover. Can a vacuum pump be used, or does the front have to come off, or are there other options?
Mike

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the spring had come out of the seal 46, and thats why it was leaking. you should be able to replace the seal, just dont bend it up getting it back in. you'll have to remove the rear cover to change the diff. grease. you need to anyway to clean it out. :cool:

And since ya got it apart anyway,weld a drain plug bung to the bottom of the case
so you can drain it if need be in the future.....

The 8" has no rear cover, the drain plug is in the dropout. You can pull the old seal and replace it. If I were you I would do the bearings at the same time, they will have to be pressed off and on.

Thanks for the help. Slowpoke, "The drain plug is in the drop out", I dont understand.
Bearings should be fine. I had them replaced when I put new gears in. They have less than a 1000 miles on them. Paid for new seals at the same time, but it looks like the one didnt get put in correctly.
Mike

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Originally posted by 46yblock
Thanks for the help. Slowpoke, "The drain plug is in the drop out", I dont understand.
Bearings should be fine. I had them replaced when I put new gears in. They have less than a 1000 miles on them. Paid for new seals at the same time, but it looks like the one didnt get put in correctly.
Mike

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i was thinking of something else 46. there is no rear cover, on the 8" or 9" if you want to clean it out you'll have to drop the 3 rd member. who ever put the axel back in may have knocked the spring out of the seal. not hard to do. :cool:

I took out the seal easily with a borrowed seal remover. Getting the new one in was a lot more difficult, mostly because the surface of the housing that it is meant to go into was buggered up some, not by me though. . Will bolt the shaft back up and run the motor in gear for awile on the stands and see if there are any leaks.
My mechanic friend says there is a tool available at the parts stores, that looks a lot like a grease gun. The plunger acts like a giant syringe, and he thought if I put a heat lamp on the pumpkin overnight that could work to get most of the fluid out. Will give that a try.

46Yblock, if you had the rear end rebuilt with new gears, you should not need to drain housing. Did they install new axle bearings at that time, or carrier and pinion bearings? The 8" in my 40 has a drain plug on the bottom of the housing and a fill plug on the dropout. The 9" in my 46 does not have a drain plug. Sounds like all you needed was seal replacement. Do you know that to check oil level, just pull the plug in the dropout and check for it to be level with the threads in the hole. Fill to that point if necc. Joe