tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

ok so..i changed my axel bout 2-3 weeks ago and soon enough, noticed a slight knock when i shifted...not every time but most...its suttle but there...you can feel and hear it. ok moving on..

yesterday, i put the car on the lift to put new y pipe and exhaust on..2.5 straight from y pipe to muffler...will be getting high flow cat soon! its loud:/..so while looking under, i immediately noticed fluid..like EVERYWHERE....on the shifter linkage...trans, axel..everywhere around where the axel goes into the tranny, so...my buddy looked, smelled etc and decided on gear oil...it was not leaking like this before the axel exchange...

my question...obviously this is not good...the axel didnt seat right or something....but it only goes into the tranny so fare because its mounted in that ring thing.... what could have caused this, what should i check...something may have busted?....and then what gear oil to use when i change it...i will search about the gear oil exchange so plz dont flame or w/e lol when everyone sais search thanks in advance!

oh and if makes any difference, when i changed the axel..i was able to pull it out, and stick the new one in withough much fluid leaking out at all so.....idk:/

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

This statement makes it seem like you didn't put a new seal in while you were under there. If that's the case, that may very well be your leak. Seals are cheap and not too bad to install. I say replace the seal.

Also, this doesn't sound right. Did you verify correct installation?

Swazey

did you drain and replace your tranny fluid?

if i remember correctly, when i replaced my axles, i had to CLICK the axle in place - kind of slide it back and forth to lock it in place. sorry i cant describe it any better.

figure out exactly where the leak is coming from. spray everything down with a cleaner that wont eat your gaskets and wipe it clean. then youll see where the leak is coming from and whether it leaking while driving or parked. its the only way to know for sure, otherwise it could be all the things you listed.

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

ok sorry...im a newb..when you say seal.....i didnt find any seals when i pulled the new one out, and with the new one....im not saying there is one..but didnt see any...:/...and as far as the "click" statement..i think thats on the axels with the ring on the end of the trans side splines...this one doesnt...and didnt have one on the new one... but...ill look when i put the cat on the exhaust in the next few days..

99greddymax

iTrader: (7)

the seals are on the trans.. On for the pass, and one for the driver. When you pulled the axle out, your should have noticed it. Its a black ring.

They look like this

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

The seal is in the transmission. You can't miss it. It's what you have to put the cv shaft through. It's especially easy to damage if you aren't aware of it being there when you are putting the shaft in.

Edit: 99greddymax beat me to it. Check the FSM while doing repairs. It will help you to know that the seal is there and save you time on replacement usually.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

could either be:

a) a damaged axle seal just from you uninstalling/reinstalling the axle
b) bad differential bearings causing the axle seal to leak
c) your axle isn't seated all the way in the trans properly

the seals aren't super easy to damage but if you're not careful/don't know they're there you can damage one. it could just be a coincidence and your diff bearings have gotten bad enough to the point where it causes the seal to leak. or maybe you just didn't get the axle all the way in the trans.

99greddymax

iTrader: (7)

Neal hit the nail on the head!

A while back while i was installing my trans, my ds axle wouldn't go in all the way. I thought it did, so when i put gear lube in, it started leaking out. I had to take a rubber hammer and hit it to make it seat properly.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like OP is referring to pass side axle. It can only go in so far, due to the carrier/support bearing. Sounds like a damaged seal in the trans.

Swazey

the leak could be from the seal but what is the slight knock he is noticing? did you measure the length of the old vs new axle?

i bought new axles from raxles a while back and they sent me the wrong one. when i put the axle in, no matter what i did it wouldnt sit right. i took out the new axle and measured it against the old one and there was a 2" difference.

like i said before the clicking of the axle in place, or as Nealoc187 said, not seated properly. that is what i was referring to.

any progress tsheffler?

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

alright pples thanks for the advice, ...when i put it in, i remember seeing the little golding rink thing on the axel itself a few inches from the end of the shaft on the transmission side, ..when i look at it from the bottom, it looks to be about 4 mm gap between the trans and this seal....if thats what it is...i have headers coming and will be putting the front one on immediately to fix that leak in the exhaust..so i will take pics and get some decent advice on exactly whats leaking....i havent noticed the slight knock in the last couple days, not sure if its because of the louder exhaust or if it just stoped...:/....so anyways thanks for the help and ill be back in soon with a few pics from underneath while the cars on the lift ...sorry this is soo long lol

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

sorry its supposed to say gold ring*..and it looks like the seal above..on the bottom..but its on the axel itself..right out of the box it had this seal on the trans side..just outside of the splines:/
and yes it is the passenger side sorry, so it only goes in so far..because of the bearing ring thing..

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

that gold ring is just a dust cover, made out of brass, that is not the seal. the seal we are talking about is pressed into the transmission housing and is mostly rubber. that gold ring is supposed to be up very close to the axle seal on the trans to try to keep most of the dirt, grime, gravel, etc from being able to get to the seal on the trans.

you can move that gold ring around pretty easily if you just tap it with a hammer or even by hand maybe. it should be like 1mm or maybe even .5mm from the seal on the trans if you can adjust it that close.

i think you probably just damaged the seal when you were installing the axle. the passenger axle is not hard to get in to the trans and also the support bracket should be holding it in place assuming you bolted it into the support bracket properly.

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

oh ok cool, ill pull it out here soon...man...ima have a long day soon, exhaust work, axel work, change trans fluid...ugh.... lol...hmm....might need to sleep alot the night before..and get a couple packs a cigs lol thanks nealoc187

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

oh, can you buy these seals at like advanced auto parts or auto zone etc? if so, how much we talkin?..5-10 bucks?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

yes you can buy them from auto parts store or nissan dealer. they are around that price. you need to be certain you get the passenger side one though, as they are different passenger side vs driver's side, but they look very similar (similar enough that I once installed one on the wrong side once and had a leak because of it).


installing them can be a little bit of a pain in my experience. you should use a large socket or something else of proper diameter to tap it into place in the trans. if you have a drift of the proper size that would work well, but you probably don't have a drift.

eFLO

iTrader: (2)

when i installed my seal i used a pvc pipe fitting i think 3in diameter to drive the seal in. even after i installed a new seal it was stil lleaking a little fluid because i didn't set it in straight.
i didn't even bother reinstalling since it wasn't leaking too much. point of this is, it's a ***** to install. good luck.

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

k will do, ill ask my buddy if he hasa drift....we have a full shop lift and all, so maybe...if im lucky haha...can you describe it so if he gives me the..huh:/ face i can maybe describe it haha i just wann try n put a new seal and refill the trans with gear oil to spec so i dont have to worry bout locking up the trans as much as i do now.....what gear oil would you reccomend..if you could only choose one..without spending an arm and leg haha

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

The description can best be seen in the picture posted earlier. The FSM gives guidelines for all fluids and lubricants as well as instructions for repair, installation, and wiring throughout the car. Here is a link for the FSM. Bookmark it or save it, you'll be glad you did.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

a drift is a tool used with a press usually, it's just a cylindrical piece of metal. here is a picture of some different drifts.



if you can find the right size socket or drift it will make installing the seal much easier (but still not a piece of cake so take your time).


as far as gear oil i run Redline MT90 in my transmissions. Finding that locally may be difficult though (best bet would probably be a performance shop, rather than regular parts store.). MT90, MT85, MTL from redline are all good. Amsoil has a good gear oil called MTG, Neo Synthetics makes a good oil (not sure on name of the specific oil, Royal purple is not bad (though not as bad as the above, but is expensive, thus i don't recommend it on price/performance criteria), etc. Pennzoil Synchromesh (which is the same oil as GM Synchromesh) is also fine, and that is much easier to find. you can get that at most normal parts stores.

If you read the bottle of the Pennzoil/GM Synchromesh you may be led to believe that it is not appropriate for our transmission (it is not listed as an API GL4 oil on the bottle, which is what you should put in our transmissions) but I assure you that it is. I built high performance and race transmissions for 4 years, and it was what we recommended for people who were on a budget or in a time crunch (since you can get it locally) and who weren't making over 300hp. It's film strength is not as good as that of MT90 or MT85 or MTL or MTG but it's easily available and will work just fine in a car that is not making a bunch of horsepower or that is not raced/driven extremely hard.

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

cool thank you very much nealoc187! how much quarts aproximately does our tran's hold? i plan on flushing the oil when i do the axel work, header work, and o2 bung work lol....ugh...another car day haha..i have yet to buy a lower rad support....lol....endless money pit but...love for a car cant be beaten by money!
!

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

4.5 - 4.75 quarts is the capacity but not every bit of the fluid will come out so you might only get like 4.25 - 4.5 out. just today i drained the "whatever" brand fluid out of my daily driver maxima that it had in it when i bought it and put in MT90, i got exactly 4.5 quarts out of it.

proper procedure is to just fill it until it starts dribbling out the fill hole (have the fill plug ready or you're going to make a mess).

tsheffler

iTrader: (3)

haha will do thanks!