Transaxle Lip Seals - Replaced But Leaking Again After About 2k Miles

[Ron]

Finally getting around to starting this project (again) but had a thought: is there anything that would keep me from putting two O-rings on the stub axle in order to provide enough "squish" and have it seat properly? Not sure if this is feasible but thought I'd ask. Not sure if chafing of the O-rings would be an issue. No one likes chafing.

I believe you would have a hard time compressing two...probably burst sooner or later anyway. And, an oring mating to another oring doesn't sound promising to me.

Most NAPA stores have an oring assortment. Maybe try one size thicker, but the same OD.

[DMCMW Dave]

The o-ring sits in a groove in the stub axle. Like most O-rings, it's not squished, the flange actually slides over the o-ring to make the seal. If you put in a second one you will probably not be able to get the flange in without beating it, and in the process you will tear one or both of the o-rings making the leak worse. Use the correct O-ring, just one per side.

[kings1527]

I believe you would have a hard time compressing two...probably burst sooner or later anyway. And, an oring mating to another oring doesn't sound promising to me.

Most NAPA stores have an oring assortment. Maybe try one size thicker, but the same OD.

The o-ring sits in a groove in the stub axle. Like most O-rings, it's not squished, the flange actually slides over the o-ring to make the seal. If you put in a second one you will probably not be able to get the flange in without beating it, and in the process you will tear one or both of the o-rings making the leak worse. Use the correct O-ring, just one per side.

Understood. Thanks to both of you. I wasn't aware that there was a groove on the stub axle and that may have very well been where I went wrong. I'll make sure I get good positioning of the o-ring in the groove this time around. Thanks again.

[DMCMW Dave]

Understood. Thanks to both of you. I wasn't aware that there was a groove on the stub axle and that may have very well been where I went wrong. I'll make sure I get good positioning of the o-ring in the groove this time around. Thanks again.

If the leak is at the o-ring the oil will come out of the inside of the flange, so it will look like the CV joint is leaking. If it’s the lip seal the oil will run down the side of the trans.

[kings1527]

If the leak is at the o-ring the oil will come out of the inside of the flange, so it will look like the CV joint is leaking. If it’s the lip seal the oil will run down the side of the trans.

I see. I noticed the majority of the leak coming out of the split pin hole which pointed me in the direction of the o-ring but I'll double check the side of the trans just to be sure. When I checked, I didn't notice anything there. Thanks again, Dave.

[kings1527]

OK. Did the job yesterday and here's what I discovered:

-Pulled out the O-ring at the end of the stub axle and I was expecting to find an issue there but everything looked just fine. No noticeable damage to the O-ring but I replaced it with a new one anyways.

-As I'm putting the axle flange back on, as it goes on I notice that there's really no squish resistance as it goes all the way in.

-I take my pin punch to make sure all of the holes are lined up and ready to reinsert the split pin, but I'm not lined up. I have to back the axle flange out just a bit in order to get the holes to line up. There's no question the distance that I had to back the flange out was at a bare minimum the width of the O-ring, if it was even up against it to begin with.

-Thinking I'm going to run into the same issue as before, I took some RTV and really loaded it up on the end of the flange hoping to help close the gap between the flange and the o-ring. Time will tell but after driving 15 miles since completing the job, there are no leaks as of yet and that is an improvement so far. Just to try the fit, I did double up the o-ring and like Dave said, zero chance of that working. Impossible to get it to fit right.

I'm anticipating having another problem sooner than later so in the meantime I'm going to track down a fatter o-ring. I'm wondering if this is another case of our cars being as identical as a snowflake and maybe for some reason the tolerance on my car in this one area is simply different. Doesn't make sense, but???? I do know there had been a history of the same on my car on the driver's side because the first time I did this there was a lot of RTV in place. Zero issues on the passenger's side and I can't remember if I had to do the whole "back off the flange just a bit to get the holes to line up" routine back when I did it.

I'll report back for better or worse.

[kings1527]

The o-ring sits in a groove in the stub axle. Like most O-rings, it's not squished, the flange actually slides over the o-ring to make the seal.

Just re-read this one...thanks again.