Transmission Output Shaft Seal Leaking
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Hey, I’ve got a ‘13 FRS. The manual transmission output shaft seal has been replaced twice and is still dripping oil. First replaced on 5/18/23 and again on 8/09/23. I thought all was good until today, 8/17, when I moved the car and saw drops of gear oil on the pavement. A shop replaced it both times with OEM seals. They weren’t sure of the cause and asked that I bring it back on 8/24. I’d like to get some opinions on what might be going on so I don’t get taken when I go back.
-156k miles. I’m the 3rd owner. All adult owners and meticulously maintained -Car is stock minus a cat back exhaust -Transmission gear oil - Subaru High Performance Gear Oil 75W-90. Part No. SOA427V1700 -The previous owner replaced the same seal at 86k miles, ~6 years ago The picture was taken by the shop before the first repair. I don’t have a pic before the second seal replacement, but it was no where near as dirty. The shop said that both times they checked the fluid and it wasn’t low. I have my doubts that they checked it. Shifts do feel more rough/scratchy over the last few months. Any suggestions, questions or comments would be greatly appreciated. |
Does the driveshaft vibrate at all? Is the sleeve yoke scratched? Is the rear output shaft bearing worn? Why is the front pipe painted? Was the car driven over anything that could have bent the output shaft?
Get the idea? Many possibilities. |
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Driveshaft doesn’t vibrate. It sometimes clunks when I put it into first gear. I haven’t driven over anything that may have bent it. I believe the leak was there when I bought it 4 months ago. Paint, not sure. It was undercoated 6 years ago when the previous owner bought it from TX and brought it back to IL.
Sounds like I’m at the shop’s mercy, or perhaps another shop’s opinion is needed. During the first seal replacement, they didn’t look for any reasons of failure. Same with the second time, which I thought was weird. I wasn’t charged for the second replacement. I can do straightforward DIY stuff, but troubleshooting this is likely beyond me. They said they didn’t see any other issues was to why it would be leaking. Here are more pics from the first service. |
It's not terrible. I missed a fleck of sawdust trapped in the seal once when installing a replacement transmission. OMG, what a horrible mess that was.
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why does the transmission mount appear wet?
if i'm looking at the pictures correctly, the left side is the front of the car, correct? usually a rear main seal would create a wet u-joint assembly. in this case, the transmission looks wet leading up to the rear, but the u-joint looks dry, indicating to me that the leak is ahead of the rear main seal. normally vehicles are travelling down the road as they leak, so the leak is pushed backwards from the point of origin by the air flowing around everything. unless you drive backwards everywhere! |
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https://i.imgur.com/AUvB4Kug.png |
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i think ultra's thought of it being either a broken trans vent is on track, or possibly an over-filled trans. though in his picture, the neutral safety switch is on the same side as your pictures-- it could also be a failed switch allowing oil to pass by it. Quote:
of course, it won't be fun getting under the car, and hosing it down with engine degreaser, but the first step in any leakage issue is to verify that the indications of a leak are a real and current problem, and not a past previously-corrected-but-not-cleaned problem, or even something as simple as a one-time over-fill event. from the pictures provided, it just doesn't look like a rear main seal to me, unless you spend a majority of time driving the car backwards. |
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If I’m going to be under the car, degreasing and cleaning everything up, might as well swap that out as a process of elimination. That is if it’s an inexpensive part and easy to get to. |
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Here are the pics. Didn’t upload on previous post.
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that could easily be residual oil dripping off. definitely clean first, and monitor.
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Would you still recommend not going forward with anything other than having the tech clean it all up? Anything I should specifically mention to the tech while it’s there? I don’t want to be a jerk, but maybe asking if they’re cleaning everything up, not just around the seal. It’s frustrating as my mechanic of 20+ years retired and I’m having a hard time finding a good shop in my area. A few people in the car community has said this shop is decent. So, I’d like to tread lightly. |
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