Stub axle seal replacement?

carl

carl

True Classic
It appears the left side stub axle seal is leaking on my 5-speed. How does one replace the seal?
Also, what would normally cause this seal to leak, I have never had one go bad and I have had way too many Xs.
 
You will need to pop the stub out (duh), Steve Hoelscher had a how to in his take apart thread. As I recall he used a dent puller/slam hammer approach. One could also use a couple of long threaded bolts with a plate under each one to distribute the load on the case to wall.

After that its just a typical seal.
 
kmead said:
You will need to pop the stub out (duh), Steve Hoelscher had a how to in his take apart thread. As I recall he used a dent puller/slam hammer approach. One could also use a couple of long threaded bolts with a plate under each one to distribute the load on the case to wall.

After that its just a typical seal.
Click to expand...
Note that the left and right seals are different sizes: the right is smaller.
 
Yea, I cruised the MWB catalog and got that. I gather you can reuse the spring clip since MWB actually sells used ones.

Can someone point me to Steve's write up, I'm terrible with searching.
 
Note sure about the Steve write up, but there's this:

Axle Seal Replacement

When I bought my '86 Bertone a year ago I noticed a wet area on the drivers side of the final drive case. I asked the previous owner about it and he said he thought it was coming from a weepy drain plug. I thought it might be the axle seal above but the two are so close together it could be...
xwebforums.com

Don't forget there's also an O-ring under the cover as well 😬
 
Here's Steve's write up:

X1/9 5-speed 101 by Steve Hoelscher (with additional comments as credited)

This post is a copy and paste of the excellent work of Steve and other contributors. Reposted here to have it in multiple places on the the forum and be searchable using tags. I have had nothing to do with this, it is the excellent work of the noted authors. Karl No need to post to this...
xwebforums.com

And one from Bernice:

5 Speed Transaxle, Part One, Take Apart.

This 1979 5 speed transaxle arrived from a friend's race car with the innards needing attention. Part one shows how to take one of these apart. Transaxle on the bench ready to be worked on. Un do the two M6x25mm long bolts using a 10mm wrench holding the input shaft sleeve which the clutch...
xwebforums.com

I believe both of them use the slide hammer technique. You can make a simple attachment out of a scrap piece of flat stock or angle iron, drill two holes through it the same distance apart as two of the opposite CVJ bolts on the stub axle. Thread two CVJ bolts through the holes into the stub axle. Then yank on the middle of the flat stock with whatever puller tool you have. Basically you are overcoming the resistance of a circlip inside that retains the stub axle to the rest of the trans.

The Clip:
clip.jpg

The clip fits in this grove (if memory serves me right):
hub.jpg

The clip will come out with the stub axle. Therefore to reinstall the stub axle you will need to overcome the clip's resistance as it enters the case.
 
Last edited:
I did the RH side this summer. Pretty straightforward if you ever replaced a seal before.I used a slide hammer loaned from AutoZone and a HF seal puller. It was harder getting all the axle hex bolts out than replacing the seal. From the looks of it, this is the easier side to do.
 
Looks like the hard part will be finding a socket or pipe large enough to drive the new seal into place. It has a raised rubber lip so my 38mm socket will not fit over the lip. tomorrow will be adventures in Ace Hardware or HD or NAPA to find something to use as a seal driver.
 
carl said:
It appears the left side stub axle seal is leaking on my 5-speed. How does one replace the seal?
Also, what would normally cause this seal to leak, I have never had one go bad and I have had way too many Xs.
Click to expand...
Looks like my left stub axle may be leaking. Following up here to Carl's question "what would normally cause this seal to leak?" and -

When the transaxle is filled to its correct level, is the fluid above or below this seal?

Thanks!
 
I may be in the same boat as I definitely have a leak some place and i think it is the left side. I'll not be tackling this till the spring so great to here the procedure here.
 
Jim, unlike the early 1300 Xs, the axle is secured to the stub axle and outer hub with six allen bolts so no need to touch the CV. In fact I didn't even have to undo the axle from the CV. Just undo the flange joint at the stub axle and let the axle tilt down out of the way. I did learn that removing the strut helps access immensely and even that's relatively easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top