With the help of some good friends, I recently swapped a VSLD transmission from a 98 I30t into my 98 daily driver Maxima. Within 50 miles, the darn driver's side transmission axle seal started leaking like a ****.

I ordered a new driver's side and a passenger side for the heck of it, and plan to install them this weekend.

I was looking through the FSM, and I didn't see a big 'ol X next to this seal, which leads me to believe it's reusable. I imagine that the act of pulling the axle and reinstalling the axle is what doomed this old seal.

But I'm curious, are a lot of you guys experiencing transmission axle seal failures?


On a side note, when I dropped the pan to change the transmission filter/screen, I was expecting to find a lot of sludge. To my surprise, it was really clean which means someone serviced it at some point in it's life. The bad news is, no magnet was there. I also learned that are 2 locations for magnets, so I put 2 magnets in. New OEM pan gasket and 21 new transmission pan bolts, torqued to spec of course.

 

Keep an eye out on the fluid level. Make sure it doesnt get low. Your axel seal was probably really old and brittle. Swapping in a new should solve your problem.

 

Mine leaks, but the diff bearings might have something to do with that.

Seals were brand new when I swapped the trans over last year. Started leaking right away. I can't find anything wrong with the seal, my money is on the diff bearings. They have some play. The CV shafts don't, but I could move the splines inside the trans with my fingers. The old one I couldn't

 

Replace the seals. No problems after doing so.

Mine leaked as the reason why I changed them.

 

Yea Mine would leak only if the bearing was bad but I suppose you have to get under and try to move the axle and check for any excessive play (more than 1.5mm or so)

 

I replaced both axles and seals a few months back. Now my passenger side is leaking. Neither side was leaking before. I thought maybe I installed it incorrectly (not flush) or damaged the seal when installing the axle. Tried a second time and still leaking. Was told there could be a bad spot on the axle that may need to be lightly sanded. Also purchased an OEM seal from the dealer this time. This seal is designed a little different than the first two seals (Timken from rock auto and another from Orreily's). Haven't gotten around to installing the third seal. If this doesn't work I'm not sure what I will do. I feel very little play if any in the differential bearing when trying to move the axle with my hand at the transmission. The car does however jerk some when first applying the accelerator and when first letting off the accelerator. Never noticed this before replacing the axles. Could this be a sign of junk axles? They are NAPA remans.

 

Thanks for your input fellas.


Any tips on this repair? Or is it pretty straight forward?

 

Very straight forward.

I used a large socket and hammer to get the new seal in there.

 

Alright, I got the axle out. Now how the f do I get the axle seal out w/o marring up or damaging the tranny case?

 

I used an old rounded flathead screwdriver to pry the seal out. Its a little more tedious with the trans installed and crossmember in the way.

 

Thanks Leonard. So you went around the perimeter, eh? Did you gently work it into one spot to pry it out, or multiple spots?

I was starting to think that the only way to take it out w/o damaging the case was to pry it out with leverage on the inner lip of the seal.

I looked in the FSM on how to do it, no luck. I've spent more time dikking around with this stupid seal then it took to take out the axle. It's my first time taking out an axle, and I got that bastard out in 20 minutes.

I give up for the night. So far axle seal 2 points, Wiz 0 points.

 

+1

I must have replaced 6 seals over the years using this approach.

 

With the transmission installed, I worked it out on a few points on the top half of the circle. It will take a bit of force to remove.

 

The tranny should not be leaking tranny fluid from the axle seals,unless it's been over filled or damaged by the axle it self. Improperly installing the axle or improperly taking it out damaging the seals will cause leaking issues or also if the seals are really old. There's a tool that you can use to pop out the axle seal.

 

What tool? Link please.

 

Seal puller. You can google it. In sure Amazon has it too.

 

Look up seal puller

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/seal-puller-35556.html

 

Thanks guys. I knew there had to be a tool for this task. I've seen this tool before at Autozone and walked right past it.

I figured it was going to be some weird special name, but "oil seal puller" in Google showed me some examples.

 

I don't know quite what the seal looks like, but if it looks like a simple rear main seal on other cars, I might have a way.

Just grab a sheet rock screw. Tap it into the seal with a light hammer to get it started. screw it in 4mms or so.
pull on the screw with a claw hammer or vice grips.

I have used this method on inner brake disk seals.
Also for the RMS on the Nissan Hardbody truck 4 cyl.

 

You know, I thought of this idea on my own but was too worried to go through with it since I wasn't 100% sure what was behind it. I googled oil seal puller and found several examples on Youtube of guys show videos of what you described, concept wise. In these videos they didn't tap it in....too tough for that; it would have to be drilled first.

 

Yeah, that's what you call it the seal puller.

 

Well, I won this round.

As usual, jobs are easy when you have the proper tools for them. Got the seal out in under a minute.

I'm glad I splurged the few extra bucks for the adjustable version, because I needed to rotate the head based on the extremely limited clearance to get in there.

In case anyone is curious, this is what I bought and used.


Tomorrow, I'll install the new seal. Gotta think of what I can use to get it in...don't have sockets that big to tap on...guess I'll resort to a small block of wood to tap it in.

 

Take the seal to hardware store (lowes, home depot, etc) and get a section of PVC pipe that fits and cut it to whatever size you need. That way you do not damage the seal lip with the flat piece of wood.

 

The PVC pipe idea is very good. Then put a piece of 2x4 over it and tap it in with a hammer.

I used the metal ring from the adjustable coil overs
And it was the perfect diameter.
My seal also leaked after I installed both new axles on both sides.
But only the one side leaked driver side.

Good luck