Well the 5-speed swap went quite well. I love the extra pull my car has now.
Unfortunately I've got one big problem at the moment. I'm leaking gear oil everywhere out of my passenger side axle seal. It's leaking from the inside ring and I can't figure it out!
I've replaced the seal twice already and it still leaks like a ****. I'm using the oem seals and i know how to put them in properly so what gives?
I thought there might have been an issue with the driveshaft so I got another one, slapped it in and it's still leaking.
I can only think of one more thing to check....
For those of you who have performed this swap, did you guys use the intermediate shaft bracket that was already bolted to the block or did you get one from a maxima that came with a manual tranny. The brackets look the same in terms of size and their mounting positions on the block but this is the only thing left i can think of that could be different. My only hope is that the brackets are different and that the driveshaft isn't fully pushed in to the tranny.
Is there anything I'm missing here, anything I'm completely overlooking? HELP!?!?

 

I never swapped that bracket. I actually even just used my axles off the automagic.

Are you sure the axle is in all the way?

 

well,
i'd hope so. the bearing is pushed in as far as it can go into the bracket, so there's no way it could go in any further.

 

You really don't have much choice. Once you tighten the 3 10mm bolts, it won't go in anymore.

 

ahem,
(3) 12mm bolts

 

Ahem, mine doesn't leak

 

 

haha, you got pwned

 

any other suggestions?

 

Maybe it's the wrong axle (ie non-abs, abs, etc - although I'm not sure if the 'wrong' axle would even go in or not in the first place)

 

Does the axle go in all the way?? If the metal seal cover doesn't look like it's almost right agaist the seal, then maybe your axle is too short.

 

james,
well,
i've tried two different manual/abs/non-vlsd driveshafts on the passenger side. they both give the same problem. if both were too short, it would make sense. but i hope to god that the rebuild guys i use for this kinda stuff are smart enough to give me the right parts. obviously they look the same and i know what expect when i see a set of axles for the 3rd gen but i do not measure they're length.

jeff,
the axle appears to be going in all the way. the only way i'd know for sure is if i remove the intermediate bracket and try to push it in farther.

tomorrow i'm going to pick up the intermediate shaft bracket off of a manual 3rd gen and see if it really is any different. i hope to hell that this will be my cure and that i can go on to enjoy this 5-spd instead of despising it.

if the bracket doesn't work,
i'll be picking up a set of auto axles to see if they do the job. i'm just running around in circles trying to get this ish over with.

I SWEAR! IF I CANT GET THIS DAMN THING TO STOP LEAKING I'LL RIG THE CAR TO DRIVE ONE WHEEL AND I'LL WELD UP THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAL FOR GOOD!

 

in my friends that we did the 5spd swap in we used the auto axles and the auto bearing holder and it didnt leak

you could have the wrong seal

pull the seal out and make sure it fits properly on the shaft

 

the bracket isn't the problem

 

Well - Never done this on a Max before, BUT...
When working in the Honda garage I do know that if you put an axle in stupid it would fix but on the way in it COULD rip the seal...Maybe that's the problem? Yes, different brand, but hey, I tried

 

i used the one from the 5-speed max and mine ain't leaking at all. just re-check the seals. im sure something will come up sooner or later.

 

did you replace the seal with a new one?

If so, did you buy it at a parts store?

If so, there's the problem. the seals listed in the computer for a VG is wrong on several ones- Federal Mogul is the one I KNOW is wrong. the seal fits into the tranny, but the hole in the middle is about 1mm too large for the axle. I found that out the hard way after dumping about 3 qts of AMSOIL ATF on my head.

the solution: ONLY buy the tranny seals from the dealer. you're 99.5% sure to get the right ones every time. the parts are at least marked correctly and the only way you can get the wrong one is if the counter guy is stupid.

 

Napa has always given me the right parts. But make SURE they know what they are ordering for. ie..engine ve30de with lsd etc.....

 

hey ppl,
i'm using the oem nissan seals so i know that isn't the issue at hand. today i'll try the different bracket and pick up another seal (thankfully they keep the seals in stock). if this doesn't work i'll try the auto driveshafts. if that doesn't work i'm going lay under the car and have my buddy lower the jack...
anymore ideas?

 

IMO the bracket is most likely the problem. The auto and manual brackets are in fact different, though they look identical. I know some people here havent had a problem with the automatic bracket, but Kaleb from Curtesy Nissan did a 5-speed swap on his GXE. He used the automatic bracket and his passager side leaked. When he confirmed they were different part numbers, he swaped the 5-speed bracket in there and hasnt had a problem with leaking since.

 

I got the same problem, and i got it fixed. First i don't think it was the problem of the bracket. kaleb may have fix his problem with a different brackets, but he has a vg not a ve. The problem (at least my and one other org member) is your driveshaft. Both Auto Zone and Advance are selling you the wrong part, they are too short, about an inch too short. The correct part # should 9704 instead of 9708. The 9704 is listed for the AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, and that is the one that you need. Try it and thank me later.

 

masssmail,
thankyou! i hope to god that it works. it's definately re-assuring to hear that someone had the same problem and fixed it by switching the intermediate bracket.

nismochi,
i know 100% that i have the right driveshafts for my vg.

 

Oh, my bad. I assumed you have a SE.

 

no problem man...

 

well...
the bracket solved my problems!!!

it finally seems worth the trouble now

 

so Ryan

i guess u goin' 2 c that skyline this saturday?? and good u fixed that leaky Max...i can't w8 2 c it

 

torres,
the skyline thing is on sunday

 

well hey I got the same problem with my right axels is leaking fluid too. But I did not put the three ten mm boilts back in because I lost them so Im hoping thats my problem I still havent got my car back going yet due to some kind of brake problem but I have drove it like 10 miles. A nice to get a little more pull out of the vg.

 

Well I put the three 12mm boilts back in the cv axel mount ,and I think my leak has stoped. I used the 5speed ve mount but just could not find the dam boilts and it poured with out them.But so far so good.

 

Man, I wish i could remember rather or not I swapped that bracket.... I did notice a dab of gear lube hanging around the bottom of my tranny when I changed the oil the other day. So is there anyway to tell how much gear lube you have in your tranny other than fillin it up till it pours out the filler hole? Oh and what weight of gear lube normally goes in it?

 

75 or 80w-90
...right now i'm using 80w-90 until my amsoil series 2000 comes in.

 

You know me... I always got something to say. So here goes:

(1) I swapped the plates in the process. But i couldn't get the MT plate from Nissan. I had to pull it off a SE in a yard.
(2) I also had a problem w/a gear oil leak. At first it looked like a axle seal leak. It turned out that it was leaking from the seal under the striking rod boot. A.K.A. the striking rod seal. But this is a PITA to replace. The case has to be split and the gear lever must be disassembled.
(3) I used Amsoil too. 80w-90 to be exact. But i don't remember the series #. I was told that i never have to change it by the rep. Is this true?
(4) On the subject of axles... I think the other guys covered that well. I have napa seals and rebuilt axles. They serve me fine.

Well, I guess that's about it for now.

Lata,

Matt

 

I did this swap in April on my '92 SE. I used the Auto's axles and did not swap the bracket. I used new OEM seals on the 5-speed tranny.

No leaking after 6 months, but I've only put 1500 miles on the car. I don't drive it much.

 

what plate? the flywheel inspection plate?

you should be changing the amsoil every 50,000km - 65,000km imo.