Maintenance of the rear axle consists of:
- in periodically checking the oil level in the crankcase, topping it up and changing it according to the lubrication map;
- cleaning the breather from dirt;
- tightening the drive gear flange nut, axle shaft nuts, checking and restoring the adjustments of the wheel hub bearings, drive gear and differential
It is forbidden to change the oil filled at OAO GAZ before a mileage of 60,000 km.
Clearances in the final drive must be measured on the vehicle after the cardan shaft has been disconnected.
Before checking the gaps, it is necessary to check the tightening of the nut 1 of the drive gear flange, for which it is necessary to unpin the nut and tighten it with a torque of 160-200 Nm (16-20 kgcm).
Check the clearances by moving the drive gear flange in the axial and angular directions.
The axial clearance in the drive gear bearings is checked as indicated in the article "Adjusting the GAZ-2705 axle reducer".
To measure the full angular backlash of the drive gear flange, make a mark on the edge of the flange deflector, turn the flange all the way to the left and make a mark on the crankcase that matches the mark on the reflector.
Turn the flange all the way to the right and make a second risk on the crankcase.
Measure the distance between the risks on the crankcase.
If it exceeds 12 mm, this indicates excessive wear on the teeth of the drive and driven gears of the final drive, differential gears, or splines of side gears and axle shafts.
The oil is drained from the rear axle housing after it has been preheated.
The oil level is checked and topped up through the crankcase filler hole on a car standing on a horizontal platform.
Checking should be done some time after the trip to allow the oil to cool and drain from the walls of the crankcase.
Lack of oil or its excess are equally harmful.
If the noise of the bridge is increased to such an extent that it is considered unacceptable from the point of view of comfort or causes a fear of breakage, it is considered a malfunction.
Axle howl (high-pitched noise) affects comfort and can be avoided by avoiding long periods of driving in the narrow speed ranges where it is audible.
Before disassembling the bridge, make sure that the noise comes from the bridge.
Noise sources can be a faulty clutch disc, tires (noise changes with different road surfaces and increases with speed), engine.