96 Town Car Pinon Gear replacement?

[jkingiii]

My 96 TC suddenly sounded like it was draging something. I pulled over and parked at work (it is still there). Jacked up the rear end (thinking it was the u joints). the u joints look fine. I can move the drive shaft around and it appears the pinon gear is lose. Do you have to remove those from the rear (it looks like the fuel tank would be in the way)? Has anyone ever done this and what is the difficulty? Thanks for your help, JK

[junk yard doggie]

Hello

If you jack the car up and let the suspension hang down you shouldn't have any clearance problems. Make sure to shut off the air suspension switch in the trunk. You will probably have to pull that rear cover off and inspect the gears, if you think there is a problem in there. I've have some parts from an older model that might work for replacements. Check out this link to see the part numbers. gear info and pictures Good luck

[jkingiii]

Junk Yard;
So I take it I will have to take the pinon gear our from the back? Also, could it possibly be just the seal? Thanks, you are always a big help. JK

[junk yard doggie]

Yes the parts come out through the back end on this one. You might get lucky and just have a blown seal. If it's dry it will make some noise. Are you seeing any oil leaking at the front or axle shaft seals? Try filling the rear end with some 80/90 gear oil and see if the noise goes away. Watch for leaks.

[jkingiii]

I can't see any oil. I will check. It looks like the seal is coming out. If I take the pinon gear out, do I just push it through? Thx,JK