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leaking gear oil


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hey guys

I have a 91 loyale 4 x 4 wagon with 1.8 non-turbo

 

I have some gear oil leakage where the front axles enter the transmission

 

What is the procedure to change these seals?

How hard is it to do with the tranny IN the vehicle?

Anyoone done it before?

thanks

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I have done it before and you can easily do it with the tranny in the car. You will need the seal for the spline shaft and the o ring for the carrier.

 

Take the half shaft off of the spline shaft of the tranny. you will have to break the steering knuckle loose in order to do this. It isn't difficult.

 

Next, you will see a collar around the shaft with a keeper on it. Take the keeper off and then, with some muscle, you can unscrew that collar (then carrier). Once you have this off you will see that is has the shaft seal in the center of it and the oring on the outer rim. Replace both of these and reasemble the unit. Make sure you get the collar tight or the bearings will be loose. My mechanic says that you cannot over tighten the carrier.

 

If you want some assisstance you can call me. 804-393-0516

 

A Haynes manual willl have all of the steps necessary to do the job.

 

Good luck

 

Mike

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wow, that's the first i've ever heard of that. some knowledgeable subaru folks have told me not to mess with those seals unless absolutely necessary. the torque on that collar sets the loading on the bearings and can cause major issues. i would read up and do a search on this a little bit, not that i don't believe mike, but i've heard this is something you want to make sure you're doing correctly. those collars can be very tight to break loose. if i were doing it, i'd be sure to mark and carefully count how many turns it takes to get off and try to install it back in the same position....same number of turns and back to the position where i marked it...and then based on what others say, maybe another 45 degrees for good measure.

 

i'd keep an eye on the fluid level, if it's just seeping out and not loosing anything i wouldn't worry about it. could it just be seepage over 20 years or do you think you're actually loosing a significant amount of fluid?

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When I did mine it was leaking pretty well and I was afraid of damaging the diff. I tighned the !!!!!! out of the collar as best as could be done without special tools and then drove the car for 50 to 60k miles after that with no issues. Unless you go to extreme lengths you are not going to be able to tighten that collar but so far. Maybe I was just dumb and lucky. I just listened to my mechanic and he has been at it for 30 years.

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that's awesome, good to know if it ever comes to that. i was going to replace mine years ago when i had the transmission out as "preventative maintenance" so to speak. some well advised soob experts i know (from the boards) mentioned how important the tightening was to "setting the gear backlash"..or something to that affect. so i didn't do it. still have the brand new seals. good to know you did it without issue.

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Definitely mark the carrier to the diff. case before un-doing it.

 

I also have asked a Subaru Mastrer Tech with over 25 years of Subaru under his belt.He says you don't want to over tighten them and at the most you go in ONE tooth for starters,and usually not any more than that.Thats if you have a slight amount of play.If just replacing old seals go back to your mark and don't go in anymore.

 

Just put my quilted flannel in the laundry basket because of that dang gear oil stentch.

 

 

More warm weather coming tomorrow!!The Northeast never had it so good in January!!:clap:

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