dave1812

Hi - In November, I brought my 96 Maxima to a highly recommended local mechanic because my front suspension was making noises and it had a small oil leak. The oil was from the passenger side axle seal. The CV joints were cracked open.

The mechanic suggested we replace both axle seals and both CV axles, so I did.

The suspension noise went away, but there was still an oil leak. This time from the driver's side axle seal which did not leak before the repair.

In the past three months, we have replaced the driver's side seal six times and tried three more CV axles (all at no charge). There is still a small leak. We've tried parts from several suppliers including Nissan. The mechanic is out of ideas -- he has even "talked to his buddy at Nissan." He has offered me my money back for all driver's side repairs.

It is only a tiny leak now which I could live with, but I think this should be easy to fix. Any ideas?

dave

Vlasic

iTrader: (13)

Are you talking about the cv boots on the axle, or the axle seals on the transmission?

rome06

iTrader: (1)

its probably the rubber seal that goes into the tranny on the drivers side axle.....mine was leaking too and it was a easy fix

s0ber

iTrader: (7)

differential carrier bearings in the transmission assuming its a 5spd..

dave1812

It is the axle seals on the transmission.

Vlasic

iTrader: (13)

If it was leaking from the transmission then I dont know why you replaced the cv joints. If you replaced the axle seals and its still leaking, then you probably have a bad diff bearing like what s0ber said. Do you have a 5 speed? Get under the car and grab the axle right where it enters the transmission and try and move it up and down. If it moves then your diff bearing is bad. There should be no play in the axle where it meets the tranny.

dave1812

Thanks.

It is a 5 speed. The axle is rock solid - it doesn't move at all where it meets the transmission. The leak is clearly coming from the axle seal despite numereous attempts at replacing it. I can clean it all off and watch it leak.

Maybe I will have another mechanic look at it.

Schulte

Be happy if it is your driver side axle seal because that's one easy fix! My leak occurred after replacing my passenger side CV axle. I just recently replaced my passenger side axle seal on my 96 SE 5 Speed. It was constantly dripping my lovely $18 Royal Purple transmission fluid after I would park my car. This task was a royal pain, mostly because of the lack of room that our lovely front wheel drive cars provide
I started by getting the axle out of my differential, removing the shift bracket (optional. depending on if you want to be able to see well and make sure the seal is set in well), and using a seal puller with a slide weight, which you can rent at autozone. Which I highly recommend because I couldn't seem to get it out with a pick like tool that looks like what the dentists use. After Pulling it out and lubing up the outer walls and lip of the new one with my drained trans fluid, I removed the torque steer bracket. Which is the bracket with the big hole in it that your passenger side axle goes through, which the axle is held on by three bolts to the bracket, and bracket held on by three bolts to the engine.
To set the seal, I used a mag light and took the bulb, glass and housing out of it, and put the recessed part of it back on. With assistance from a hammer, the seal set in nicely after a decent amount of whacks to the mag light, and observing the sides of where it needs to be set in more. Make sure the seal is set flush on all sides, even near the little wall on the right side of the seal where the little wall is. Put the bracket and axle back in and put the fluid in, and drive I was on a car lift at school, (thank god), and cycled through all of the gears while suspended in the air, to make sure there was no leak. As of 4 days earlier, no leak, and nothing but smiles on my face I hope this helps!
Oh, and make sure it is set in correctly, and it's the right part

VisciousMo

iTrader: (4)

He most likely has it fixed, as he posted this in 2006.

drbizerk

Schulte's response may be for an old post but i recently aquired the same problem and stumble into here first....his response definitely helped me out. thanks

Swazey

you can change seals all day but something internal is pushing the fluid through, take the tranny out and examine

graff_hip_hop

i had the same problem and the most deff way to fix this is to replace the diff bearing inside...