RE: Pinion Nut

[Simon Favre <simon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The big reason is that you just don't have room to get under the car to
loosen the ring nut unless the rear end is off the ground. You at least
have to have one pair of good jack stands. The parking brake alone is not 
strong enough to hold the pinion flange still. To loosen the nut, you
turn it CCW. This is the same direction as when the car is backing up.
The parking brake is notoriously bad at holding the car still facing up
a steep incline.  Ever notice you can back the car up with the parking 
brake on, but when you try to go forward, it stalls out? You need to use 
some kind of holding tool on the flange. Making a bar to hold the flange 
still is pretty easy. The ring nut tool takes longer to make. Try to 
borrow both from your local Alfa club.

Dave Partridge wrote:

>I'm confused (this is a surprise?) but wouldn't the parking brake and 
>blocks on the front wheels (in case the parking brake slips a bit) hold 
>everything in place so that one could remove the pinion nut? This is of 
>course a method that would only be used by someone that did not have a 
>lift.(ME!) I'm wondering since my pinion seal is leaking just a bit and 
>the job appears imminent.

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End of alfa-digest V7 #463
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