New guy needs help- rear diff

[Comin' in Hot]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. My name is Derek and I just picked up my first marauder, '03 black on black, I had an '03 police interceptor that i loved so i up graded. My problem is that other than being really tired and slighty retarded at times, i thought no big deal i could change a seal. I followed the instructions in my manual tightening the nut to 150 ft. lbs. but when i went to take the in. lb. reading for the preload if was at 57 in. lds. not the 27 i started with. My question is how bad did i screw up the diff, and how do i fix this.

[Mongoose]

Welcome to the collective!
You have been assimilated!

Try reading this thread: http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14550
You might also do a search with "pinion seal"

[GreekGod]

That is an excellent Dave Morton tech tip in the link. A solid spacer, correctly shimmed, is the best way to preload pinion bearings. It allows simple future seal replacement, making it an easy R & R of the yoke, plus torquing of a new nut.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

You over-crushed the crush sleeve. I hope you are NOT driving the car like this because you are going to ruin the rear very quickly. You need either:

1. new crush sleeve, crushed to get 27 in lbs rolling torque
2. solid spacer kit, installed to get 27 in lbs rolling torque

Yeah you did a boo boo/ Not a big deal to fix, but you absolutely must fix it before putting any miles on the car.

[Comin' in Hot]

Thanks for all the help. I replaced the crush sleeve and i cacan not get it right, i drove the car about a 1/4 mile and it hums when i let off the gas, im calling a tow truck and its going to a local speed shop, I hope i didnt ruin the ring and pinion

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

If you drive on it w/ the wrong preload, you can definitely hurt the bearings, and the r&p.

Humming when you let off the gas most likely means not enough preload on the pinion bearing (when you coast, the pinion gets closer to the ring). This is going to ruin the wear pattern on the gears if you drive a lot on it

1/4 mile didn't hurt anything.