Pulled the diff back out and apart. I remember why I hate doing pinion seals. What a bear to pull the yoke off the damned things. After pressing the pinion out it was obvious that the rear bearing was the noisy one. It wasn't likely to fail any time soon but the wear on it was obvious and enough to explain the noise.
The front bearing race is easy enough to knock out but there isn't enough purchase on the rear bearing race to get a punch on it. Ended up welding a couple blobs onto the race to get some meat to hammer against. It came out easy enough. New races went in without any hassle. Rear bearing pressed onto the pinion followed by the tone ring for ABS. Front bearing and spacer went into the case before the pinion seal. Then the whole stack was put in the press to push the yoke on enough to start the nut. Using the impact I snugged it down until a bit of resistance was felt. When I first spun it, about 30% of the revolution felt like it was binding. My heart sank but I quickly realized that the pinion seal needed to sit a bit less than flush to prevent interference with the yoke dust shield. After using a drift to seat it further the pinion spun nice and free. I kept impacting in short bursts and checking the resistance to turning. It quickly went from very loose to just right. I didn't measure it beyond a calibrated feel, but it very closely feels like the previous measurement, actually measured. I double checked the position to my measurements prior to disassembly and it was spot on. LSD carrier went in, and side caps torqued. One thing jumped out to me right away. Upon turning, the diff now coasts a bit where previously it stopped almost immediately. The quaife is 12 lbs heavier than stock and should coast with a bit of momentum... and now it does.
Back in it goes, I'm getting pretty quick at that. After filling with gear oil....again
I spun it up on the lift. Success! Drove it home, about 5 miles and it sounds great. Now if it just stays that way I'll call it a win.
Lesson learned.... don't think you can get by only doing half the job. If you're gonna have one apart, you really gotta go all the way.
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90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start
90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff