Annoying repair - And is it yoke or yolk?

[davepl]

So I've had a "drip a day" leak from the back of my transmission. If it were 5 years old I'd ignore it, but it's a fresh restoration and I can't bear to have it leak.

After a lot of drying and watching and drying and watching, and hoping it was from the grease packed in the u-joint (it wasn't) I asked around and the consensus from old people was that it's likely the plug in the base of the yoke*.

How do you get at that? Well, you need to take the u-joint out. How do you get that out? Take the driveshaft out. How do you get that out? Take the carrier bearing out. How do you get that out? Take the rear driveshaft out. How do you get that out? Remove the U-bolts from the differential output. Now remove the U-joint retention clips, and then, with a hydraulic press, push out one cap. Then flip it all over and press out the other side. Yes, I know it can be done with a hammer, but that's not my jam.

Then, after pressing it all out, I had to decide whether to skim coat it with some good old "room temperature vulcanizing" compound. But I wasn't sure that would do it, so I drove the plug out. Figured I would reassemble it with RTV. But the plug is put in with some kind of alien machine that grabs it coaxially, grips it, forces it convex and then installs it and lets it expand. You can see the "tooth" marks, or witness marks, where that's done. I doubt that tool exists west of the Mississippi, so I had to file down the plug to where it fit, but snugly. RTV both side. Drop RTV down the spline end just as a belts-and-suspenders move and push it around. Push it in the spline as best I can.

Reverse and reassemble.

All for one drip.