Drive Shaft Yoke Seal Leaks

Q: Drive Shaft Yoke Seal Leaks

Question about the drive shaft yoke that goes into the tail of the trans. Gear oil leaks out the tail of the trans so I replaced the seal. No biggy. What my problem is .. I slid the drive shaft out and you look at the yoke to find that the about an inch of the outter yoke seems to be worn badly.I think this surface should have a machined finish to it. My brother looked at it and seems to think the drive shaft is to long. I drained the oil and didn’t find any big pieces off metal. The magnet on the plug had a finger tip size of sludge and some small fillings on it.

A) Is this normal wear? 30years +
B) Is drive shaft to long? How do you measure?
C) Is it the wrong yoke?
D) Can you cut an inch off the yoke?

A: If the yoke is that worn chances are that a new one isnt going to fix it. I think the inner tailshaft bushing is severly worn. You must remove the tailshaft to remove /and replace this bushing. It is pressed into the housing and is about 2 in long. This is a softer material than the yoke so it is sacrificial.

A: Sounds like normal wear for a 30 year old drive shaft. The yoke can be replaced fairly inexpensively. Your obvious choices are new or used. Check with your local parts dealer or dealer parts counter for the price. The other choice is to check with the local junk-yards for a good used one. The yokes are common to almost any brand of GM car with similar transmission.

As far as length, in the normal weighted condition you should have about 3/4 to 1 1/4 inch sticking out of the tailshaft.

A: Your drive shaft seems to be in pretty normal condition to me. The part of the yoke that sticks out of the tranny always looks pretty bad. The question is what does the yokes surface area look like that is inside the tranny. It should be clean due to constant contact with oil. And most importantly, what does the yoke look like where it comes in contact with the seal. My bet is that the seal has worn into the yoke. Again, that is normal for a 30 year old car. The problem is that if there is too deep a groove from the old seal, a new seal will still leak. I would first replace the seal in the tranny and replace the driveshaft. Sounds like you have already decided to replace the gear oil. Good move! If after new oil and a new seal it still leaks, replace the yoke. Fortunately, none of this work is rocket science, so go for it!

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