ATF Leak

[techy101]

Just like the title, I've got a very small ATF leak. It seems to be leaking from where the drive shaft goes into the tranny/center diff.

It's dripping right down onto the exhaust where the two sides converge. The previous owner installed the transmission, so I don't really know anything about it or how it was put in. I did manage to find one loose bolt on a thing that supports the drive shaft (carrier??)

Any ideas on what might be leaking, and how it would be remedied??



Thanks,
Matthew

[subru92svx]

I had the same problem when I bought my car. There is a lip seal right there where the end of the driveshaft plugs into the back of the transmission. If I remember right the new seal was only like 5-10 dollars and its not to hard to replace. First mark your driveshaft with a marker or chalk so that when you reinstall it you get it put back exactly the way it was. Loosen and removed the four bolts holding drive shaft to the rear diff and the two bolts holding the drive shaft carrier bearing in place. Then carefully pull the driveshaft out of the transmission. Reach in the end of your transmission with your finger where the end of the driveshaft used to plug in and you should be able to feel the lip seal. Remove the old seal with a seal remover tool and install the new one with the right size seal installer. Make sure the new seal is installed evenly on all sides and not crooked or it will not seal right. Wipe some ATF around the lip of the new seal and then your ready to reinstalled the driveshaft. Hope this helps you.

[svx_commuter]

That is a really good write-up, lots of detail.
I had the same problem a few years ago and that is what I did to replace the seal.
When the seal leaks real heavy it will take off the undercoating on the body of the SVX at the rear of the trans.

[longassname]

I'm suprised to hear you guys have had this problem. I bet your seals were hard enough to groove your drive shafts too.

On the note of getting the old seal out let me share a few pointers to save you on purchasing tools you don't need. You usually use a flat head jeweler's screw driver first, to bend the seal. Always attach your seals at the top, not the bottom. If you have a rubber mallet use it to hammer in your flat head jeweler's screw driver between the edge seal and the aluminum. That will bend the seal. Then stick a flat head screw driver in where you bent the seal and pry it out by hand. It will come out easy as could be without damage to the aluminum.

For pressing the seal in...just use an appropriate size socket to match the diameter of the seal and your rubber mallet again to drive it in. Oh, and lest I forget...lube it with vaseline before hand.