Riot^

My tranny fluid is leaking BAD.
There is a leak from the driveshaft, where the seal is. There is also slight play in the driveshaft that I believe stretched the seal.

I had the tranny opened up before to check the bearings and replace the seal, but the bearings seemed fine.

This time the Tranny fluid was all over the ground. I had the fluid added the day before I discovered the huge puddle, it was slightly leaking before, but now as I said, there is a puddle.
What is the cause of this???

PLEASE HELP!!!

Eric L.

It is pretty difficult to diagnose the problem without pictures or actually being there to look at the leak. That's why I wonder sometimes where people say "I need help ASAP." What can other online members do about your car problem?

The question is, do you feel comfortable attempting this repair yourself, or do you usually take the car to the shop? If you are a DIY, cracking out the FSM might have more details on the driveshaft seal you are talking about (that's prolly where the leak is). If you take it to a shop, well, take your car to the shop and let them fix it!

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Did you put new seals in there when you opened up the tranny to look at the carrier bearings? If you didn't, your going to now.

If you did you may have a bad one.

OR-------Brace yourself-------Your carrier bearings may have just failed on you.

ericdwong

I say probably the seals. Unless the bearings happened to eat the dust.

Riot^

To answer the first post - My dad has a garage, so I can use the tools and the hoist there to get the car up.
He also has a mechanic that can help me.

The seals were replaced after I opened the tranny. They were actually replaced twice. The first time, after a leak, I replaced the seals, the leak returned, I thought it may be a bad seal, so I got a new one... here it is again.

How can I tell if it is bearrings that failed?
Will it cost a lot of $$$ to have it fixed myself in a garage.

Sorry, I have no pics, but there is not much to take a picture of, the entire bottom of the drvieshaft is wet in oil, and it's dripping from there.

I will take pics when/if I take my tranny out.

iwannabmw

iTrader: (3)

Well, you probably don't want to hear it, but the last Nissan transmission that started eating seals like that was because the bearings are toast.

Riot^

that's what I thought.
But once again, how will I tell that it is the bearings when I open it? What am I physically looking for when I have my car on the surgeon's table?

iwannabmw

iTrader: (3)

Well, Eric is the tranny guru, I think he could rebuild it in his sleep

motorvate.ca is also a good site to look at for this.
Good luck.

Riot^

I checked that site, but I need a straigh forward answer. When I open it up, what should I look for?
I mean, is it normal to have worn bearings with scratches and bumps, or are they suppose to be as smooth as a baby's bottom?

And the shims are confusing me. How do I know which ones and how many I need.

PLEASE POST REPLIES!

ERIC HEEEEEELP, I hear you are the GOD of transmitions.

Thanks in advance

ericdwong

If you open it up and it looks like the roller bearings have chips in them, then they're toast. You check the preload by removing the shims (they are sandwiched between the outer race of the driver bearing and the tranny case), and then using a precision dial gauge to check the freeplay. After you check the freeplay, you use this table in the FSM to order the correct shims from the dealer.

Riot^

shouldn't the shims be same for all maximas?

MAXINXS

No! These shims are within thousandths of an inch. Each transmission is very slightly different when your looking at a margin this small.

Riot^

I see, ok, this answers some questions for me, thanks a lot!

Now, for the MAIN question - How do I measure the precise shim that I need!?!?!!?!
This is very important, and I realize I shouldn't be messing with my tranny, but in any case, I NEED this info!
Please reply Anyonw that has a clue!

meccanoble

iTrader: (22)

from what i remember bearings are fairly cheap (like 20 bucks) its the install that's a ***** or worst, the cost to repair is beacoup dollaz....i've heard your problem before and it all points to bearings but i could be wrong...sucks...atleast you know how to open your tranny so it shouldn't be so painful for u....

good luck

Riot^

Just wanted to add that the bearing Has been changed when I opened the tranny the first time, as well as the seal was changed.

Now the it is still leaking.

What the hell could it be besides the seal and the bearing????

Bassbreaker

iTrader: (8)

Mine is doing similar things. I replaced the seal but not the bearings. It is still leaking. If I have to take out the tranny to place in new bearings, i'm just gonna replace th auto tranny with a standard one. At least that one doesn't leak...arg