jhink92

Okay so I know the big deal is read, read, read first. But my I.P was banned on my phone and I have no idea why since I rarely post. Anyways I can only get on with my phone when picking up Wi-Fi. Its tricky searching with my phone so a little forgiveness is nice. My problem is that my 98 Maxima SE, five speed has been pretty regularly leaking about a quart a week. Funny/expensive story on how I found that out. So iv been putting in regular valvoline conventional gear oil either a 80/90 weight or 85/140 depending on what auto zone is selling, also its a gl-4, gl-5 oil, i cant afford to put good stuff in every week, with the weather changing and working construction im laid off. I know its leaking from the axle, found that out changing the cv axle. The max has 236k miles by the way. the axle itself doesn't seem to have much IF any vertical or horizontal play but it does seem to move in and out of the diff pretty easily. When I replaced It there was absolutely no resistence taking it out or putting it in when the front end was torn down. so I'm not sure if I was sold a bad axle or my gear box is toast or what. Also I had already replaced the seal that's known to go bad. I would appreciate the help guys and thank you in advance.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

Was ther a clip on the new axle? Leaky srals often happen because of bad diff bearings.

LTXMitch

This has been discussed endlessly, to the point where I don't have a 5 speed and I'm a master at diagnosis. Your bearings are bad giving just enough play to cause your axle seals to leak. Replace all the cv joints and axle seals you want. But you need a rebuild

cashoit

differential Axle seal.

basically means your tranny is toast and will require rebuild. Sorry man.

Same thing happened to me a few years back. U can go to a tranny shop and see what they say.

I paid my mech 1200 bucks total for used replacement tranny and new cluctch and i was back on the road. MAKE SURE TO SAND DOWN THE MATING SURFACE FOR TRANNY AND ENGINE as this is a major grounding point for the car.

jhink92

Yea thanks guys for being decent.I was fighting a rebuild was going to be my answer. fortunately there's a pretty decent shop here that does it on the DL and has an amazing warranty. plus side is its time for a new clutch soon anyways. Any input on the gear oil I'm running, figured it should be fine since its leaking. Nissan = amazing motors, junk everything else lol. New expense for my soon to have college loans. along with both lower control arms, pass cv axle and new tires. woot.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

you said there is no play in it either up and down or backward and forward (backward and forward with reference to the car i mean), so don't just jump to the conclusion that "your tranny is toast, needs a rebuild"" like these guys are suggesting. need to get some pics maybe, and also more info. is this the driver or passenger side here? is there a circlip on the axle in question? any odd noises? it's possible you just have a bad axle seal, or the incorrect seal in there (passenger and drivers' side seals are NOT the same, they are slightly different sizes and if you have the wrong one in there you may not be able to tell visually, but you WILL get a leak), or maybe you just have the seal installed incorrectly (pushed in too far, or not far enough).

it might be bad diff bearings, 236k is a lot of miles, but that isn't a guarantee and it isn't the only possibility here. it is certainly the most expensive possibility though so go to that last.

I would say that until you get it fixed, keep putting the cheaper stuff in there, though try to find straight GL-4 if you can. maybe online might be a better source for that (cheaper prices +shipping might even out to what you're already paying for the GL-4/5 from autozone with tax, etc). once you get it fixed, put good stuff in.

as for the IP problem, PM DanNY about that.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

Orielys has 140WT GL4 for -$15/Gal. It is heavy and not condusive to cold shifting, but will slow down the leak and be syncro friendly.

jhink92

if there is any play its almost unnoticable if any. it could be my imagination. ill try and get a video sometime.

cashoit

at the time, my axle had play in it.

And obviously, u are checking for play with the car off the ground?

jhink92

Time to bother you guys again. So i took my car in for a 6 month alignment yesterday ( why not, two year alignment warranty ) well i know the cars been leaking, cant park in pretty driveways and stuff of that nature. Anyways the hot shot mechanic at Tire Kingdom noticed my cars a p.o.s (really not, its rather nice actually) and took it upon himself to tinker once he noticed it was leaking. So he popped my axle out of place, gear oil everywhere. Real cool right. So he tells me that my axle probably has a bad lock ring (it was supposed to be new but thanks to oreillys i got to have a reman. woot woot). I got it jacked up today after i noticed its leaking 4 times as much oil as normal. And it does have up and down play but what my question is. Is that if the lock ring or whatever thats called at the end of the axle is bad and its not seating in completely or at all, could that explain the up and down play? Maybe take the warranty into affect and get a new one and try replacing it again along with a new axle seal. Or does it seem pointless and i should just grenade the gear box because im about at the end of my limit with this car. I love it to death but im about to trade it in for a 1.5 non vtec civic or something due to frustration....very aggrivated person here . Thanks for the help guys.

SovereignDragon

I would take it back to the shop and complain. If you didn't authorize them to mess with it they had no right. I work for a shop and see this all the time on two different ends. Most of the time people tell me they already know about the leak and aren't worried about it right now. Other times people get mad that I didn't fix it. I just let them know that I couldn't do anything without their consent and give them an estimate. After that it's off to work with a happy customer. Just let them know you already knew it was leaking and now it's four times worse. If they won't listen go higher up the ladder. If this had happened in my shop we would probably wind up putting in a tranny at cost with free labor. Not really policy but we don't like unhappy customers.