coaster

New member here! 1997 3.0 2WD Aerostar

Been an aerostar owner since 1990 (on my third one... maybe the last unless I can find one hidden in a SouthWest garage with 20K miles!).

These vans have always been trouble free (only rust would do them in). But I recently had to have the Rear Axle pinion bearing replaced (it was a low-end model fleet van). After just two months of driving the replacement disintegrated. Ford parts were used for the job. Could the bearing have been defective? Did the mechanic forget to put oil in the rear end housing? I've read that pinion bearing installation is tricky (a seal has to be crushed into place) Anyone out there have any experience with this issue? Thanks.

Bert

The bearings have to have a specific pre-load and the crush sleeve is what is used to set it. If they tightened it too much, the bearing would fail quickly. Have you told the shop about it? Do they have a warranty on their work?

Here's how the pre-load is set.

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Bert

coaster

Thanks for the info. The shop will warranty their work, but want to be sure the bearing was not faulty (not likely as it was an original replacement part).

Bert

If it was faulty and would go out that fast, you would see it before it was installed.

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Bert

goldie1

did they pull the diff apart or only do the front one.if they only did one the other bearing is properly stuffed aswell this would not help.


Ian

coaster

Thanks for your replies.

Could be the differential was not completely overhauled by my hometown mechanic (who did the first rebuild), because the Tires Plus mechanic who is now doing the work (I am 1200 miles from home) found the ring gear was bad, and that it should have been replaced as part of the first rebuild. It was doomed from the beginning and would have had a catastrophic failure very soon. So a used rear axle assembly was located and installed (new half-shaft bearings and seals). Glad to say hometown mechanic picked up the entire tab (after all, he had decided to do the bearing replacement because he claimed no used rear axle assemblies were available... could have not looked that hard, there must be many Aerostars in the bone yards).

Now, just for the record, will try to determine what caused this failure, because I have never known any Aerostar to have this problem....

Bert

Let us know what you find.

Here's the best way to search for used parts. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

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Bert