It appears as though the oil seals on my driver side driveaxle are starting to go, and oil is beginning to leak. Does anyone know how much it will cost to replace? Price of parts, estimation on labour, etc.

Car is a 1996 Maxima SE:
- 5 speed
- 145000 km (~90000 miles)
- H&R Sports with Tokico Illumina suspension, if it matters
- No sounds while turning wheels
- Steering/handling is not compromised
- No play in axles

Thanks!

 

Please help!

 

I would check for play in the axle. If there is play in the axle it is time for a new trans. Usually a leak there is caused by excessive play in the axle.

 

Like Mxrider52 says, check the axles. Also check the seal, that's a cheap part. If that doesn't do it... check the bearings.... which pretty much means you're gonna rebuild. Don't worry, your problem has been experienced by a few other members, somebody will chime in once you do a lil exam and tell us what you find. Good luck.
Jae

 

No play in the axles. Not sure about the bearings, but when I jacked up the Max and inspected it earlier, it just looks like oil is coming out of from the driveaxle seals.

 

axle seals are cheap <$10... replace them and ur leak should stop, unless it times for a rebuild like they ^^ said..

 

Should also add that there are no sounds when turning the wheels, and steering and handling is not compromised.

 

ahh i know what your going through, ive gone through this. the bearings are starting to go, it stretches the seal, just replacing the seals is only a temporary fix, because the seals will just stretch again, so the leak will progressivly worse and worse. when i bought my car the leak it left a size of a quarter every night, about 2 months ago it grew to the size of a dinner plate. i guess it got a little low and my bearing went. it made grinding noises and well now the car is not driveable. tranny is blown, wont move in reverse and moves forwards in neutral. keep up on making sure the tranny fluid is toped up and you should be fine. for the rebuild of the tranny from berts automotice (im local too) they esitmated around $1200. my transmission is not rebuildable right now so my only choice is one from the wreckors. good luck and if you have spare cash and you intend on keeping it id get it rebuilt now before it gets out of hand. also i never had any noises for the longest time untill it got a little low.

 

Oh. Crap.

 

Quick update! There were no oil drips under the Maxima overnight, which is a good thing I guess. Also, after a quick call to the local dealer, I found out that they charge $30CAD for the seal, and 1.5 hours of labour, which is $150CAD. Ouch.

 

i did the seals myself, cost me 11$ for each one from lordco, and it took me maybe 1 hour to do the drivers side. its pretty simple, its the passenger side thats a pain in the ***. basically remove the wheel, remove the big cv nut, its hard i used a big *** impact gun. its a 36mm IIRC, once thats off remove the 2 bolts holding the steering knuckle to the strut, and take the abs wire off the clip, pry the steering knuckle off, then the driveshaft should pull off. before you put in the new seal you should apply a coat of grease on it, and make sure you do not knick the seal when installing the driveshaft. i did it for my first time and to take off the drivers side maybe took me 45 minutes?

just found this, it will help if you decide to do it yourself

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/401

 

Maybe cuz you're outta fluid.
Jae

 

Well, I ended up selling my Maxima today and I told the buyer about the leak. Hopefully he will take care of it.

I already miss the car

 

Ummm were you honest about what was going to be required to fix that leak??? If not, somebody is going to be pissed off when their tranny craps out on them in 5-10K miles. I seriously hope you didn't just tell them it needed new axle seals. I say there is a 90% chance that trans has bad differential carrier bearings and needs rebuilt.

 

You're not looking for play in the axles - you're looking for play where the axle enters the transmission (differential). When the differential carrier bearings wear out, they allow the diff and axle to wobble around. Too much wobbling, and the seals leak. The leaking is caused by the looseness, not a bad seal. If you drain some of the tranny oil, you'll probably find it's got flakes of metal - those flakes are the metal that no longer keep the differential held squarely.

The solution is a partial or full tranny rebuild. Or you can buy a used tranny and roll the dice - this kind of wear can happen early (50k) or late (150k).

Edit: you sold it?! Wow, someone is gonna be pissed when they find out the tranny is barely good enough to drive it home.

Dave

 

What info did you base that statement on? Got a reference?

Jae

 

the kiss of death.....