i installed a new flywheel, clutch, etc.. i only had 3 qts of MT90 so i put that in the car while i waited for the 4th quart to be delivered. i only went for a test drive with the 3 qts of gear oil i had.. anyway, the car sat for a week until i got the last quart of oil.. i topped off the gear oil until it started leaking from the fill plug and went for a 2 mile test drive.

when i got home i looked under and i see drips of oil coming out the bottom of the tranny/engine metal gasket area..

my thoughts is i over filled and it's spilling the excessive gear oil.. is this false or did the install go bad? what i don't understand is the car sat for a week and had no leaks with the 3 qts it had in there..

any help is appreciated.

are you sure it's gear oil and not engine oil?

i replaced both gear and engine oil so the oil is clean.. hard to tell if it's engine or tranny oil now that you mention it.. but there was no leak until today that i topped off with gear oil..

i don't know if you can tell by this crappy pic what it could be.. its dripping pretty steady at about a drip ever 3-5 seconds.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2927/189832458373sy0.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=189832458373sy0.jpg)

looks to be coming between the tranny/engine metal gasket.. i just hope my clutch job didn't go bad :(

Check and see if its coming from the top of the drivers side axle. If it's coming from there its you seal.

Check and see if its coming from the top of the drivers side axle. If it's coming from there its you seal.

i replaced both axel seals when i had the tranny off, so they're new.. i'm out of ideas and my next step is to take the car to the shop where they will likely rip me off but i am not too tech savvy when it comes to stuff like this. i will check tomorrow if it's the seal, though, they're new like i mentioned.

mine did the same thing...its cracked

mine did the same thing...its cracked

really? i just put the clutch in and i been driving it lightly until break-in..

I've replaced the axle to transmission casing seals before too when i did a clutch job on one of my cars, with genuine Nissan seals. In some respects i wished i hadn't. One wasn't seated correctly (longshaft) and i had a bad leak. IIRC the shortshaft side (your drivers side) sits flush with the casing, and the longshaft (your passenger side) needs to be drited a certain depth in to the bore (it doesn't sit flush with the casing). Drifting them in square is a damn nightmare. I don't know what you get from the main dealer over there, but the original parts have been superceeded here. The new design incorporates a metal ring on the outside of each seal which makes for a real tight fit. The old design is just the flush outer rubberised edge. If there are no leaks from your axle seals, the location of your leak would point me toward a rear crank seal failure.

Oooh that's scary. Rear cranks are a bear and a half of a job, and if it's leaking that badly, you'll have to do it soon.
One way to tell if it's gear oil or engine oil: smell it! 90 weight smells really really strongly, as we all know. Plus it'll be thicker than 10w30

Another good way to tell is to get it in your hair while laying upside down under the car in a puddle of it, and seeing how many shampoos it takes to get it out. It was 4 for me with gear oil rofl

Oooh that's scary. Rear cranks are a bear and a half of a job, and if it's leaking that badly, you'll have to do it soon.
One way to tell if it's gear oil or engine oil: smell it! 90 weight smells really really strongly, as we all know. Plus it'll be thicker than 10w30

Another good way to tell is to get it in your hair while laying upside down under the car in a puddle of it, and seeing how many shampoos it takes to get it out. It was 4 for me with gear oil rofl

LOL!

I hate the smell of gear oil. You can always tell it.

Been there with the hair thing, too. Yuck. I'm gonna start wearing a shower cap under the car...

well i went under the car today to check where it's coming from (stopped leaking today) but it's coming from the passenger side axle/tranny seal.

i replaced the old seals that WEREN'T leaking with new ones that leak when i did the clutch job... why f*cking bother sometimes fixing something that isn't broke.

well i went under the car today to check where it's coming from (stopped leaking today) but it's coming from the passenger side axle/tranny seal.

i replaced the old seals that WEREN'T leaking with new ones that leak when i did the clutch job... why f*cking bother sometimes fixing something that isn't broke.

Yup, that's exactly what happened to me!
IIRC there is an actual value in the FSM in mm for the depth that the seal needs to sit in the bore. I didn't realise this at the time and just roughly went by where the dirt ended on the inner of the bore. I was lucky i bought 2 replacement seals when i went to swap it out as i split the first one using some wood to drift it in. I eventually found a good socket match for the second attempt. Trying to do the seals with the box still on the car would be hit and miss IMO, i ended up taking the box off again. Regarding everything i typed above, this is all based on the RS5F32A boxes my cars have.

Another good way to tell is to get it in your hair while laying upside down under the car in a puddle of it, and seeing how many shampoos it takes to get it out. It was 4 for me with gear oil rofl

I pulled an axle without draining the trans 3 years ago.....my sweatshirt still smells like gear fluid, and it's been washed 10-15 times. I still use it for working on my car, and I will never forget the smell of gear oil now. It's pretty distinct.

just ran into this issue. makes me think...maybe i put the seal in too deep?

i actually blew my seal out in november replacing the boot end. and said F it for the winter till spring. been sitting on the seal for months now when last night and today were the days to do it. disasembled last night. reassembly today. still leaks. the seal is the kind with the metal ring. it went in crooked the first 4 times. not realizing it either time thinking it was going in straight, i smashed away at it. finally getting it in straight, not thinking i damaged it ( :) ) it still leaks. sigh, live and learn i guess. i always learn the hard way.

now my question: does the metal dust cover on the axle itself have anything to do with the sealing process? mine kinda feel off and is a little mangled now. from the looks of the fsm, it is removeable and replaceable. so it wouldnt seem to need to be a fixed part or even be there at all. anyone?

Hey Leon! The dust cover doesn't need to be there to seal the axle. The seals should be flush with the cases of the the trans. I caught the circlip of an axle on the lip of the seal. That's enough for me to replace the seal. I don't chance it anymore.

sup jake! did you change your number?

circlip? im going to look at the fsm.
how the hell do you get that bugger in straight he first time? PITA
i only ordered one seal, i should ordered like 5!!!

i replaced both gear and engine oil so the oil is clean.. hard to tell if it's engine or tranny oil now that you mention it.. but there was no leak until today that i topped off with gear oil..

i don't know if you can tell by this crappy pic what it could be.. its dripping pretty steady at about a drip ever 3-5 seconds.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2927/189832458373sy0.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=189832458373sy0.jpg)

looks to be coming between the tranny/engine metal gasket.. i just hope my clutch job didn't go bad :(

those seals are a big pita

i replaced both gear and engine oil so the oil is clean.. hard to tell if it's engine or tranny oil now that you mention it.. but there was no leak until today that i topped off with gear oil..

i don't know if you can tell by this crappy pic what it could be.. its dripping pretty steady at about a drip ever 3-5 seconds.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2927/189832458373sy0.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=189832458373sy0.jpg)

looks to be coming between the tranny/engine metal gasket.. i just hope my clutch job didn't go bad :(

you can definetly smell the difference and as for changing the seals, they are pretty delicate. if that little spring gets crimped it leaks...at least mine did. i changed mine twice. its a pita to drive them in to the bores...but its a good learning experience..lol:biggthump

sup jake! did you change your number?

circlip? im going to look at the fsm.
how the hell do you get that bugger in straight he first time? PITA
i only ordered one seal, i should ordered like 5!!!

I think my phone was off for about a week. There is a circlip on the end of the driver's side axle. That's why it's such a bitch to put in and remove. I use a body hammer and tap around and around till it starts to sink a bit. Then I teter (sp?) it in. Like a clock. 12-6 oclock, 9-3 oclock. You can use a big socket too if you want. Team Nissan in Manchester stocks them now thanks to Scott doing them all the time. :biggthump :rofl:

word. well im doing the passenger side.
but if i F up again, i know where to go instead of wait for shipping! thats a part i will only go OEM.