my front left axel in my 1997 se started leaking so i went in there and changed the seal($17) then after 2 days it was still leaking so i took it in to a local mechinic and he said all i needed was a seal($150) he said i must have pinched the seal when putting it in. then the next morn i backed my car up to see and there was another pool of my maximas blood on the ground so i went back to the shop they replaced another seal(free) and said that they must have pinched the seal. now this has been all done in 1 week. the next morn it still is leaking. so i am going to take it in to nissan to get it looked at.(i got my 150 back) has any body had the same problem and is this leaking to bigger problems??? the axel???

 

It's obviously not the seal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

5 spd Differential Carrier Bearings...

Tranny off, Case off, Replace bearings, Re-shim the bearings proper = about $1000-$1200 depending on shop

-matt

 

Sounds like the differential bearing. Is it me or is this happening a lot these days?

www.motorvate.ca

 

More than likely its your differential bearings. I had the same problem about a few weeks ago. I was changing the passenger-side drive axle when I noticed a a few beads of tranny oil underneath the driver side axle. I knew that I had never changed the driverside driveaxle oil seal (163k miles). I changed it out twice before I was told what the problem was. Each time it kept leaking, but this time it was worse!

Someone told me that if the driveaxle end that goes into the tranny was loose (meaning you could push up or sideways while it was secured into the tranny) then it was more than likely the differential bearings.

Here's a link that will shed some light as to the 97 SE 5spd dilemas: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=235216

As a sidenote, you are spending WAY too much money for your driveaxles seals. NAPA autoparts has them for about $8 or $9. However, you can order them from Courtesy Nissan for about $6. As for the differential bearings, I was quoted a price of $44 for the bearings on the driver side from Courtesy Nissan.

Don't mean to scare you, but I've done a TON of research on fixing this problem. You can do it yourself, but it is extremely tedious and time consuming and not recommended for a novice mechanic (i.e. oil change, brake change, etc). Everywhere I've gone and called wanted to charge me atleast $1000!

Fortunately, I found a mechanic at the Nissan dealership up the street who is very familiar with the problem and how to fix it. Rather than let the dealership do the work, he is going to do it for about $300-$400 for both sides.

 

That's a damn good price...It cost me $250 for all 6 bearings, but I removed the tranny and trucked it in. All of the work is in getting the tranny off/on.

 

lol its the bearings had the same problem. drivers side leaking 3-4 seals lata lol. i was like i think its not the seal. (seal was a ***** 2 install). spent 113.00 for bearing left and right seals/speedogear thingy. and i took out the trans myself. and had a friedn of a friend install the bearing for 100.00. no more leaks yay (put 11,000 miles on the bearing)

 

i would agree with that bearings, but the transmition leaking is and was my worst nightmare. leaking after the seal has been replaced several times is something that you need to get looked at soon. I ignored mine for a few months cause it was not that bad and now i have a new transmition.

 

Did your friend install the proper shims? If not, the problem WILL resurface!

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/807