Rear carrier / differential replacement 2005 Vibe AWD

[Canuck05AWD]

Here is a step by step report of how I remember removing the bad rear carrier / differential from my 2005 Vibe AWD and install the good used one I bought. At the same time I replaced the radial bearings and dust shield on the coupler as well. Sorry, I took no photos, so I will try to explain using GM schematics. I did this over a month ago, so there may be some smaller steps or details that I have overlooked, but here are the nuts and bolts of what I did. As with anything like this, I have been working on cars my whole life so know how to be safe while working on and under cars. If you are not 100% comfortable with this, it may be a job best sent to a mechanic. I was quoted $500 for the 6.5 hour job, and there were times when doing this install that I thought we might have been better off doing that. I am glad that we persevered, because in the end it was not that tough.

Here are schematics at the bottom to use as reference when reading below. As well, use lots of penetrating fluid / spray when doing this, and keep a few steps ahead when planning your next few moves. You will save headaches down the road if you spray it all in advance and allow it to soak in.

Here is what we did:

• Drove the car up onto ramps on the front end.
• Jacked up the back end of the car high enough to comfortably get under it
• Unbolted the driveshaft that runs from the transfer case to the viscous coupler assembly, there are 4 bolts (14mm, I think) that need to be removed. See diagram A Part #5, this is what those bolts attach to. You will have to likely rotate the shaft part way through to get at them all. In order to rotate the driveshaft, I found that 1 front wheel had to be lifted off the ground as well. I have read that you cannot let the driveshaft bend beyond a certain angle, so have some supporting blocks ready. In order to dis-engage the driveshaft from the coupler, I had to also unbolt the hanger bearing as well, and tried to leave it all supported on blocks. Where the driveshaft connects to the coupler, there are alignment pins, so you may have to use a pry bar or hammer to gently tap it loose. I never took the driveshaft out of the front (transfer case), I just supported it in place.
• Next, since I was replacing the viscous coupler bearings I removed the viscous coupler assembly off of the front of the rear carrier. You likely want to do this anyway, as it bolted to the rear carrier is quite heavy. I believe that they are 12mm, and you will like to need to bend some of the heat shield out of the way, and use extensions and swivels. These bolts are what holds on the part in diagram A, part #3
• You may need to pry a little, as the carrier housing is also aligned on dowel pins. Once it is free though, you will know, and you will likely have oil leaking out of the pinion seal. Once the coupler is off, you can either replace the coupler radial bearings then, or wait and do it afterward. As for the process, go to Youtube and search ‘Viscous Coupler 2005 Vibe’ and there should be a video 6:38 long by South Main Auto repair. He explains it in that video much better than I could. One thing to note though, is to watch the bearing orientation. The bearings are totally different sizes so you won’t mix them up, but watch which way over they are flipped over when you take it apart, as the bearings have a rubber seal that needs to face the way they came out (outward from the coupler, I think I recall).
• Next, before doing anything further with the rear carrier, I would recommend removing the driver’s side axle, to get it out of the way. To do this, remove the driver’s side rear wheel first and then loosen the large axle nut. Then you will want to disconnect the rear stabilizer bar from the link (see diagram B, part #6) that holds it to the lower suspension arm. Next, unclip / unbolt what you can of the rear ABS sensor because you don’t want the procedure to damage any of that. Once that is done, remove the bolt (diagram B part #7 + #12) at the top of the rear knuckle. Be careful doing this however as the once that bolt is out, the suspension could drop / spring, so be clear of anything that might swing and hit you. Disconnecting these 2 items will allow you to pivot out the TOP of the knuckle away from the car. It will work best if you have someone assisting you. The idea is to pivot the top of the knuckle away from the car enough so that the axle can slip out of the knuckle / rear wheel bearing and be free of the rear suspension altogether. Once this is free on the outer end, you can go underneath and disconnect the inner from the carrier (next step).
• Next, using a pry-bar very carefully pry the axle out of the rear carrier. I have read that this can be a challenge, but mine popped right out easily. Set this axle shaft aside for later.
• Next I would suggest freeing the rear 2 rubber exhaust mounts and supporting the exhaust on blocks. The exhaust will have to be free at the back in order to do the step, 4 steps down.
• Now back to the carrier. It is held on by a bracket (see diagram C part #6) on the back, and a bracket that wraps around the bottom (see diagram C part #1). Unbolt the bracket, C-6 from the car, just in front of the rear bumper. We left it on the carrier at that point, and took it off afterwards.
• Next, remove the 2 long bolts (diagram C – part #3A) that go up from the bottom of the bracket under the carrier and secure this bracket to the carrier itself. The carrier should now be somewhat loose, only being held by the passenger side axle and the bracket underneath.
• Now, since the carrier is loose, gently use a pry bar to disengage the passenger side axle shaft from the carrier. At this point it will not be able to come out completely, but it will be at least be loose.
• Now, for the bracket underneath the carrier. This is likely the most frustrating part of the job is to see how the geniuses who designed the car put one of the bolts (diagram C – part 3B) in the bracket that runs below the carrier in such a fashion that you should remove the gas tank in order to get it out. Not only that, but the clearance between the bolt and the gas tank is small, and it is in a concave shaped washer that is tough to get a box end wrench onto it. What worked for us was to use the lowest profile ratchet we had, and sacrifice a socket by grinding it down as much as we could in order to get the socket onto the bolt, yet still have enough grip on the bolt to hold it for loosening. We did not remove the gas tank, so we simply loosened the nut on the bolt that would be prevented from coming out due to the location of the gas tank, and remove the corresponding bolt on the other side. Now this bracket can swing or pivot on the bolt still in place, but you will see that it would have hit the exhaust if it were not moved. While doing this, you it would help to have a couple sets of hands to help. While swinging down the bracket, you can move the carrier down and towards the driver’s side of the car while moving the passenger side axle out of it. Voila, it should be out now.
• I would strongly suggest putting new seals in the rear carrier since they are relatively inexpensive. One note of caution would be to observe how far the seals are tapped / pressed into the case, especially for the left and right axle seals. You can accidentally drive them in too far.
• Once the seals are in your new carrier, you just go back in reverse of how you took the carrier out.
• First install the diamond shaped bracket C-6 onto the back of the carrier. This is most easily done on a work bench, and not under the car.
• Take the carrier under the car, and working in reverse of removal, start the passenger side axle shaft into the carrier, and putting the carrier up into the position it is suppose to be in. Once that is done, pivot up the brace that runs under the carrier and put in the bolt to hold it.
• You will have to force the passenger side axle shaft into the carrier (it is an internal snap ring fit). To do this, we did not want to hammer the axle itself, so we secured some large channel-lock pliers on the bulky part of the inner CV joint and hit the pliers with a hammer as to make it ‘click in’. I recall this not being very easy to do, but it worked.
• Next, install the bolts back into the carrier rear bracket (C-6) and you can snug those down.
• Next put the long bolts (C-3A) that go through the bracket under the carrier, up into the bolt holes in the carrier and snug those as well.
• Then snug down the bolts (C-3B) at each end of the bracket under the carrier, and you are rounding the home stretch.
• You can re-secure the exhaust at this time
• Next, start the driver’s side rear axle splines into the carrier. This time, you should be able to gently hammer on the end of the axle (we used a block of wood) to get it to snap into the carrier.
• Next get your buddy to pull on the top of the rear knuckle as far as required in order to get the axle started back into the rear wheel bearing / knuckle assembly.
• Then re-install the bolt at the top of the knuckle (B-7+12), re-fasten the rear stabilizer bar (B6) to the rear link, and replace whatever you did with the ABS sensor / wiring back to how it was.
• Tighten the large axle nut, put on the wheel.
• Under the car, re-attach the viscous coupler housing / assembly to the carrier, and then in turn re-attach the rear axle to that, and reattach the hanger bearing.
• Fill the rear diff, put her back on the ground, check for leaks, cross your fingers and take it for a test drive.

I had done things in the fashion above, as to not disturb any of the parts / bolts that could cause the alignment to be out. After it all was done, the car drove just like it had previously (straight as an arrow), but without the differential whine.

[ehoff121]

Wow!

Thanks for the extremely detailed write up.

I'm a little scared to try it myself now, but at least I won't let them overcharge me for it.

[Canuck05AWD]

Thanks for the reply, I have received so much good info from here, I want to try to give back as much as I can. It really just took some research, patience and time, but having said that, $500 to put it in seemed reasonable too.

[tpollauf]

Awesome write up with clear, specific, details. Although this will not apply to either of my Vibes, I appreciate the effort you took to share it with those who could benefit from it. Another reason this site ROCKS !!!!