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Output shaft leaks and a bad memory

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jbcollier:
I try to keep a detailed log book as I have a poor memory for details. When I started as a mechanic, I remembered everything I ever did on every car I worked on. After 10 years, or so, that part of my brain filled up and exploded, scattering memory fragments everywhere. Now I have a vague idea I probably worked on such and such a car in the past but not quite exactly what I did or when. So, it’s not unusual to take something apart and find things I don’t remember having done. Which leads me to…

When I first did my transaxle, it leaked. I sure as heck wasn’t going to pull it out of the car so I came up with trimming down the fins to allow the seals to be changed from the outside. Did that and it still leaked, albeit a little bit less. And then, one day it stopped leaking. Level stayed up and the outside of the transaxle dry. I figured, correctly, that the seal run had not seated on the inner seal properly until one day’s enthusiastic driving did the trick. I run a twin link so no worries about shimming — more on this later.

While chasing vibration issues, I decided to get the half-shaft balance checked (all good). After that, it started leaking again, big time. So I pulled it apart and fit a new seal and o-ring on the one side. And I noticed some things…

- it was obvious that the seal run had popped back out. I was able to simply push it back in but decided to change the seal anyway. Grease on the end of the half-shaft had enough stiction to pull the seal run out thus leading to my leaking.

- trimming the seal nut fins is a damn good idea. Highly recommend it the next time you do the work. Turns a nightmare job into a synch.

- getting back to my poor memory, I found a square seal instead of an o-ring. So, I can categorically say that the square seals work very well. My other side is still dry. I fit an o-ring this time and I’ll report back on how it does. I used an aluminium tube to pop the seal run over the o-ring.

- twin link issues. Unlike with the stock set-up, there is nothing holding the seal run in place. The seal run has only a shallow space for the o-ring so it is possible for it to move out if there is room to do so. I have fit a sacrificial o-ring between the seal ring and half-shaft to help keep the seal ring in place. Probably it will just get munched and spat out but I’ll report back on how they survive.

That’s all, or, at least, all I can remember…

Kendo:
John, do you have a photo of how exactly you trimmed the seal nuts? I am having trouble visualizing that.

jbcollier:
No photo.  I crammed full the opening with a clean rag and used a dremel to trim the fins.  Wasn't hard to do.  If you have it apart, you could just chuck it in a lathe for a quick trim.

Rosco5000:
This is a very timely post as I am struggling with my output shaft seals on my rebuilt 365. 

I have one question for you,  I have noticed in the literature that it calls for 1.75L of oil which does not fill me up to the filler hole at all.  Last time I filled up I went level with the filler hole.  I am wondering if I am too high in my oil level and that is causing me some issues.  I was closer to 3L of fluid to fill to the filler hole level.  Do you have any thoughts on this.

Thanks,
Ross

jbcollier:
With the car level, fill so it drips lightly out the level plug.  I have a 395 which is similar to a 365 but has a smaller diff unit.  I used roughly 2.4 lites of oil to full.  With my output shaft seal-runs in place, I had no leaks so it wasn't overfilled.

Oil level is CRITICAL with the five speed transaxles.  5th gear is rotating on it's needle bearings in every other gear and it is located high at the rear, the first place to run dry as the oil level drops!  Lots of dead 365s from worn 5th gears due to low oil levels.  Parts are pure unobtainium.

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