Something’s Leaking - escaping, oil / fluid-wise. Thoughts?

fastx19 said:
I would bet one of them is the shift boot to transmission. That is usually one place. Others would be from either an oil plug and/or transmission gasket failing. The one on the far left would be the axle boot, probably a small weep of grease. Looking at the pic again, the one on the right could also be a axle boot to transmission as well, leaking just a little, flowing down the transmission and dropping. The old 4 speed boots do tend to have a very slight weep to them. Just how they work. Later 5 speed fixed this.
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After a few mop-ups, wipe-clean and re-drive events, it does seem there's a problem with the 'shift boot to transmission' you mentioned. Also, you can see on the driver's side axel seal the word 'FIAT' stamped into the rubber of the boot/seal. Is that how new replacements are made, or is this possibly a very old boot/seal? One thing I did notice, the fluid on my finger is nearly clear (likely the Redline I put in three weeks ago), so I'm assuming it's transmission fluid?
Appreciate any opinions, aka is repairing any of these pricey?
thanks

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Both of those parts are available. There is a seal behind the shift boot, there are a few fairly recent threads on its replacement. The axle boot as I recall has an inner seal which can wear (the ones on an 850 can be replaced, I don’t recall on the X version of it), looking at the parts book on MWB would be a good way to see what parts you would need.
 
kmead said:
Both of those parts are available. There is a seal behind the shift boot, there are a few fairly recent threads on its replacement. The axle boot as I recall has an inner seal which can wear (the ones on an 850 can be replaced, I don’t recall on the X version of it), looking at the parts book on MWB would be a good way to see what parts you would need.
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Yup, my cart is currently full. lol. Just waiting for a couple of call-backs. Those axel seals though, do you think new ones have the word FIAT stamped into the rubber? That was my clue they may not be ‘new’
 
Well new can be new part recently made or new parts that are old stock (NOS new old stock). Depending on the part I would much rather have NOS than modern reproductions as the tolerance stack ups, the QA from supply chain and so on was better by Fiat than it is by replicating from NOS parts.

The outer boot is not what is likely leaking unless it has a slit in it in which case you would have a lot of oil everywhere it is likely the inner seal 40001150 that is leaking possibly due to wear of not the seal but the actual axle. The seal interface of the boot to the retainer or the transmission case.
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Image courtesy of MWB.
 
Brilliant. I'm also looking at the two axel shafts in case they're scored. Probably will just order a bunch of stuff and hope we find the culprit without too much trouble. Thanks for the pic :)
 
After my car sat for 20+ years, the inner axle boots were toast. I replaced them and the axle seals with the MWB kit:

www.midwest-bayless.com

Axle Boot w/Seal and Bushing Inner 4-Spd (Fiat X1/9, 128, Yugo) - NEW

Axle Boot w/Seal and Bushing Inner 4-Spd (Fiat X1/9, 128, Yugo) - NEW
www.midwest-bayless.com www.midwest-bayless.com

Pretty easy to install once you have the axles out. Be very careful when you remove the axles from the trans as the Tripode bearings are only held together by the friction of the transmission fluid once they are out of the dif. If the inner and outer races get separated, you will end up with the tiny bearing rollers (look like needles) all over.

My car had 80K on it when I did the job and the axle shafts were fine.
 
I with Don, I would doubt it is your axles but I have been wrong before.

My vote is the seals.
 
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This is the part:
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It is removed by tapping it out with a dutiable drift or better yet the open end wrench shown above and then installed preferably with a deep socket to be able to tap it in.

Wrap the end of the shift rod in electrician's tape so the slot for the outer boot won't mangle the seal, the slide the seal over the shaft and set in position. Find a deep socket that just barely slides over the shifter shaft, and use it to seat the seal. A few gentle taps on the end of the socket with a hammer will do the trick.

Then reinstall the outer boot. The tranny end of the boot seats in the slot in the outside of the seal carrier.

The above is from EricH’s post from 2013…
 
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The hardest part of doing this is fitting the boot. I used a hot air gun on the gearbox end of the boot to soften it so it would go over the seal.
It was hard to do on a work bench let alone under a car.
 
Ah ok, it will be a challenge then, hope it’s not like the steering gaitor I’ve just done :oops:
 
I started replacing the trans side shift selector boot on my car this past Saturday. I found getting it to pass over and into the groove it so incredibly difficult, that after a half hour of no success, I had to just walk away from it. I came back to it Sunday. Using a pick with a 90 degree bend on the tip, (designed to remove cotter pins) I shoved the tip into the back of the boot, rotated it 90 degrees (after I got it past the first rib of the bellows, that was closest to the trans, and pulled it up and over far enough to secure a big enough portion of it into the groove on the shaft seal. Once I got enough of a foothold with that portion, I held it in place and just muscled the rest of the boot into the groove. Took about 3 Minutes!!!
 
kmead said:
Dawn is your friend (dish washing soap)
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Agreed, but I had already lubed up the inside with a little oil, to make it more slippery.
In my case...Dawn (the new day) was my friend. Fresh perspective, not already pissed off, came at it from a different angle. And I learned a new technique for getting these little boogers on.
 
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