The enemy: The leaking ring gear oil seal in my 2003 C10:



The manual calls for prying it out after immersion in a 300 degree oil bath. Prying on a chunk of 300 degree slippery metal sounds like a bad idea. I'm leaning toward drilling a few small holes in it and popping it out with a dent puller. Does anyone have a proven, easier method?

Then I have to drive in a new seal. Like many amateurs, I've driven in a ton of seals over the years with various sized sockets. I don't have a 5-inch socket. I don't want one, either. What's the hot setup for driving this big seal into place?

Then I have to drive in a new seal. Like many amateurs, I've driven in a ton of seals over the years with various sized sockets. I don't have a 5-inch socket. I don't want one, either. What's the hot setup for driving this big seal into place?

Know any plumbers? a scrap piece of PVC pipe could do the trick. Coffee can? Bowl from the kitchen?

Heavy schedule pvc is what I was thinking too, Steve. Put a block of wood across top to pound on.

I always thought that thing was a big rubber blocklike thing but I've never had mine out.  I suppose that is the next thing to go bad on mine.

Post some pics when it is out.

Thanks.

Glad you posted this... I need to change mine this weekend too.

I too questioned the manual's suggestion to heat the unit in a vat of oil.  The only reason I could think of for doing that would be if you intended to re-use the seal... although why anyone would try to reuse any seal is beyond me.  My plan is to drive a screw into the seal, then grab the screw with pliers to try to pull/pry it out -- unless someone has a reason that I shouldn't.  (I welcome any suggestions.)

I just had to replace the rear main seal in my Volvo.  When I received the seal for the Connie, I was amazed at how similar the two seals were. (the Connie seal is just slightly larger).  The recommendation for the Volvo was to use a piece of 4" PVC pipe and cut a slit in it to reduce the size to match the seal. (see attached pic)  Since the Kaw seal is slightly larger, I'm hoping it will work without the slit and tie wraps.

I think the vat of oil is mentioned to keep people away from disassembling the rear end.  When I did mine (and i'm getting ready to do another one in my other bike soon) I used an old ring compressor from a GM 350.  It's a cast iron thing made to slip over the piston and rings.  The split PVC will probably work OK.  I drilled one 1/8" hole and put a screw in it and pulled it out that way.  As the screw went in it actually started pushing the seal out.  When adding the new seal, I brushed on Permatex pipe fitting sealant on the edges (its that brown/red sticky goo stuff).  The book doesn't tell you how far to tap it back in, but I put mine flush to the top edge and no leaks in 2 years.

Make sure you just bang/tap on the outer edges (perimeter) of the seal or you will warp/bend it inward.

Your idea of drilling small holes and using a seal removal tool will work great. Another common way to do this is to use a Sheet Rock screw to make the hole as well as pull the seal- once the screw is embedded in the seal just use a claw hammer to remove the screw and seal. Crude but effective and the Sheet Rock screw will not make any chips like a drill will.

The reason Kawasaki suggests using the hot oil bath is 1) so the seal is not destroyed on the way out and can be examined and possibly used again and 2) whoever wrote that never had to actually remove a seal and it was easy as can be to type those instructions.

Brian

The enemy: The leaking ring gear oil seal in my 2003 C10:

<snipped photo>

The manual calls for prying it out after immersion in a 300 degree oil bath. Prying on a chunk of 300 degree slippery metal sounds like a bad idea. I'm leaning toward drilling a few small holes in it and popping it out with a dent puller. Does anyone have a proven, easier method?

Then I have to drive in a new seal. Like many amateurs, I've driven in a ton of seals over the years with various sized sockets. I don't have a 5-inch socket. I don't want one, either. What's the hot setup for driving this big seal into place?

Electroken,

In your pic, you've removed the 8 bolts and separated the two sides.  Two questions:

1) Is that necessary?

2) Is there a gasket there which needs to be replaced?

TIA

Separating the two halves isn't necessary, but I wanted to inspect everything in there since the oil level was half of what it should have been at one point in my trip. There is a big o-ring between the two halves. The thing appears to be designed to last forever, except of course for the seals.

Thanks for all the input! The elaborate procedure in the manual got me all worked up for nothing. In the end, a single drywall screw gave me all the leverage I needed:



Just don't go too deep with the screw! You can see the large caged ball bearing that lives not too far under the seal. Below is a picture of the ring gear. You can see that the internal shaft has been staked to the gear. This means the gear in non-removable and if you f- up the bearing you get to replace this entire assembly PLUS a new pinion gear.



Now if Brown Santa brings me a new seal I can get this thing back together.