How do you dismantle a 1990 Toyota Cressida differential?

Answer 1

if you plan on fixing it and you're not really good with this kind of stuff don't do it. if its just for fun or you're good with this have fun;)

firstly, you'll need the following tools:

-impact hammer

-30mm socket (1/2" drive preferably)

-socket for bolts on back plate (12mm i think)

-14mm socket for bearing caps

-chain or a couple pry bars

-hammer

-brass punch with a fairly flat end, no wider than about 3/4". even steel is ok if you're careful.

-chisel, dremel, or other cutting tool

-oil seal puller

-dial indicator

-dial indicator stand

alright fun time. first we need to find the backlash of the ring gear to the pinion gear. the easiest way to explain the backlash is that its the play or space between the ring and pinion gears, should be around 0.005-0.007", not too much. remove all bolts on the back inspection plate and gently tap it off with your hammer and punch or bar. measure using the dial indicator and stand, gently rock the ring gear back and fouth to get the reading while holding the pinion. unless the carrier bearings on the ring gear are shot, you want to return the gears to the same backlash on reassembly. the input probe or plunger of your dial indicator (depending on type) should be perpendicular to the face of one of the teeth of the ring gear.

next take the drive pinions off. unlike north American diffs, imports use snap rings. the way to get them off is to be rough unfortunately. use your pry bars and slip them under each pinion flange. hammer like theres no tomorrow and they will pop out. alternatively attach a chain to each of them (threaded studs should still be there) using washers and a nut and lift the diff up and shake it hard. **do this on grass and steel toed boots/shoes are a MUST** mark which pinion is which side and set them aside. remove the snap rings and toss them, also junk now.

now remove the bearing caps from the back of the diff. mark which one came from where and put them aside. they're torqued on to 54 ft-lbs so either use the impact wrench or a good breaker bar for that.

look in the holes where the drive pinions were that you just pulled out. see the yellow coloured plates with a toothed hole in them? those are shims. *gently* tap one of them out towards the back with your brass punch and hammer. mark which side it belongs to. the ring gear and case assembly should come out by hand now that a shim and the bearing caps are removed.

**if you're reusing those carrier bearings, you MUST mark which bearing race (ring) goes where!! to mix them up can be dangerous!!**

now we need the pinion off. theres an indented part of the big nut on the pinion, called 'staked'. cut that away with the dremel, chisel, whatever. be careful not to damage the threads on the steel shaft underneath.

take your impact gun and the 30mm socket and pop the bolt off, hold the pinion with your hand and give it a few short bursts to avoid spinning the diff.

toss the nut away, its useless now. the pinion flange should pull right off pretty easily. theres a metal plate underneath on top of the outer pinion bearing, it will come right out. that's the oil slinger, put it aside with the pinion.

now put the diff up on the worktable so its resting on its back end (with the back plate removed still of course). put several thick rags in the bottom on your workbench. also, you can alternatively hold the back of your pinion. its easier with a friend. take your brass punch and make sure its contacting only the drilled middle of the pinion. pound the pinion out! BE CAREFUL NOT TO DAMAGE THE THREADS!! if you do (like i did) you'll need to find an M20 x 1.5 metric tapping die.

you'll notice a crushed sleeve in there. that's just as the name implies, a crush sleeve. VERY important for the life of your pinion bearings. toss that away, they can only be used once. the pinion bearing races can be removed with your punch and hammer, take your time. again label if you're reusing - even though they're hard to confuse as they're different sizes.

there you go, apart. if you want to remove the ring gear, use your punch or a screwdriver to break the lock plates on the bolts on the case (you'll see what i mean) and toss them away. remove the bolts with the impact gun.

inspect for damage to your bearing rollers...very important! any pitting, nasty scratching, or otherwise and that bearing should be replaced.

if you can follow it this far, you know what you're doing just fine. if not, take your time, research and do it slowly. check out www.gearinstalls.com, and search for the supra mk3 TSRM as the mk3 supra has the same diff as the cressidas.

best of luck, its not the easiest job but not bad once you figure it out.