so i found out that my output shaft seal is leaking.....i went to nissan and they told me the seal is only $20 but labor to replace the part would be about $100-150. is this something i can repalce myslef?

anyone esle have this problem? the leak isnt horrible but im guessing it will gradually get worse....do i need to replace it asap?

where is the output shaft?

You mean rear main seal? You need to drop the trans and remove the flywheel to do that.

You might even need to drop the oil pan(s).

oils pans can stay in place, but if it is the rear main seal, tranny has to come down, clutch out, and fly wheel out, you'll see the rear main seal right there, part is about $30 for the seal ( I think ) trying to find pics of it I know I have it.

Has to be one of the axle seals. As no Nissan dealer in this planet earth would do a rear main seal for $150 labor.

Hard? That's relative. For me it's easy. For a 1st timer, it's harder. Look here and decide on your own if you can do it. And refer to this site in the future.
http://www.motorvate.ca/

true, nissan tried to charge me aroun $500 to do the rear main seal, they charge so much just because they have to drop the tranny.

They charge that much because it's a royal pain in the **** to do it. I can drop my own tranny in a few hours but it's still a pain. Let's say $400 for labor. $400/$60 = 6.6 hours. That is about right if they got 2 guys on it.

prolly means axle seal they easy day job

do you mean the shaft that goes in to the tranny that conects to the shifter ??

No, where the axel goes into the tranny.



If you have a 4th gen 5spd and your diff seal is leaking suspect bad bearings. Could just be the seal, but I would put money down that it is the bearings

I think I have the same problem which appeared after replacing my clutch. Only a small amount of oil is dripping from my left axle and it seems to be intermittent (like when I park on a hill). I hope it's not related to the infamous bearing issue. I suspect that I was not careful enough when reinstalling the cv joints as it was not leaking before. Sure hope I don't need to drop the tranny....again.

Does anyone have a good diagram of the 4th gen transmission (maybe from a genuine nissan service manual)? Chiltons is not helpful with this matter. Also, is driving the seal in an easy task or require any special tools?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, mine started leaking after I changed my clutch. I've replaced that seal 2x myself, and my mechanic tried 2x too. Now I'm thinking my motor mounts are bad, sagging causing the seal to not do it's job.

btw, this bearing thing... it's new to me. What keywords should I search under?

Jae

The infamous Bearing issue is actually in our trannies, we get bearing failure and extra loud noises as rpms rise, then if you lucky, after a while of driving with it, you'll start to leak oil thru your input shaft putting that lovely tranny gravy all over your clutch, making driving even more SHIFT_ FUN


for replacing axles you'll just need a lot of force, rubber mallet and a block of wood to help sit the axle in place.

So far no tranny noises and when I push up on the axle no more oil comes out. I will try to fix the seal once and hope for the best. Since the leak is minor (so far), I am considering using 140W oil to supplement the 90W. By the time all of the 90W is replaced, the new oil will be ready for the 115 degree weather we get out here.

Has anyone used heavier oil to slow their leak since the viscosity increases with temp (as by revving their engine)? I know it's not a 'fix', but may slow the leak (or at least the oil).

We tried some "heavy duty" tranny oil in the 93 Max, and the shifts were silky smooth after warmup. Never tried in my 97 tho.
Jae