I jacked up my 88 SE the other day and saw oil on my transmission housing. I think that one of the oil seals is leaking and I will need to replace it. I will have to remove the driveshaft fromt the transmission to do that. My question is- will I need any specialized tools to do this? I have never done this before. I have done several things like changing the timing belt and water pump, tune-up and air-conditioning work, but nothing on transmissions or driveshafts. What kind of time commitment will it take and how hard is it?

 

The axle half-shafts are not that difficult to remove...I did the replacement on my 87 wagon. Both CV joints were fried on each shaft, and it was much cheaper to just replace them both myself. The only trouble I had was working with the struts, as I had to replace my front struts at the same time.

I figured the work was pretty easy. Since I'd never tackled a job like this before, it did take me a little longer. I think it actually took me only one day to do the R/R on the shafts (both sides, replacing both.)

For detailed info, which is pretty accurate for this job, go purchase a Haynes manual, if you don't have the factory service manual...





-MaxWagon - '87 Maxima Wagon w/ 225k miles, and still running strong.

 

Thanks man- I have the Haynes Manual and it has been pretty good so far, but those things are notorious for leaving out little vital steps that the first-timer really needs, so I figured I would check before beginning. It didn't look like it would be too hard, but then again, raising kids didn't look too hard until I actually got 'em. Thanks