oil leak from driveshaft, help please

[pauli]

hi all,

well have now developed another problem with the car, i have oil leaking from one of my driveshafts where it meets the tranny, this has only had new seals and pins in for about 2 months but the garage who fitted them (along with many more cock ups they did), well let`s say they will have a lot to answer for in the future (as we all know, what goes around, comes around). I notice that the driveshaft does not seem to fit into the tranny as it should and is giving of a whine when you drive it. I will have a tackle at this myself, i have a manual but would like some clarity on how to do it, and any tools i may need.
Hope to see some of you at Donnington sat/sun as it will be the first time me car has been to a show after the 4 years off the road, well looking forward to it, my reg is C8TUS, so see you there, and thanks

Pauli

[Paula&Marcus]

Hi Pauli,
The driveshaft leaking is a very common problem. When you do the seals (simmerings + rollpins + black-sealing) properly it should last at least two years before it may come back again.
There is a special tool available from Lotus for seating the simmerring correctly (not to far out and not too far in).

The whining worries me a bit though ....

Marcus (www.PUKesprit.de)

[pauli]

hi,

well i had another look at the driveshaft today, and what i have noticed is the the casing that goes around the shaft (the one the boot sits over) will turn freely by hand, yet it will not on the other side.
What is the simmerings and black seal? would this be something to do with it?

thanks

[jk1]

pauli said:

hi, well i had another look at the driveshaft today, and what i have noticed is the the casing that goes around the shaft (the one the boot sits over) will turn freely by hand, yet it will not on the other side. What is the simmerings and black seal? would this be something to do with it? thanks

Hey pauli,

If you could you be a little more specific in your description it would help. If you're saying that with the car in gear and the wheels on the ground you can turn the driveshaft on one side and not the other then you have a serious problem, either a broken output shaft or stripped splines on the output shaft and/or driveshaft.

For your sake I hope that's not what you meant.

Which side are you having the problem with?

Cheers,
Jim

[arium]

pauli said:

hi, well i had another look at the driveshaft today, and what i have noticed is the the casing that goes around the shaft (the one the boot sits over) will turn freely by hand, yet it will not on the other side. What is the simmerings and black seal? would this be something to do with it? thanks

To answer your questions on simmerings and black seal first.

There are two oil control seals on each output shaft. One is the large lip seal that presses into the transaxle case and the other is an O ring that is pushed onto the outputshaft and prevents oil from being forced up the driveshaft splines. The roll pins should be siliconed as well to prevent leakage.

The casing I believe you are referring to is the zinc coated cladding around the output shaft. I believe it is a slip fit with the edge rolled over to keep it in place. Normally it should not turn but I don't believe this to be the cause of your whine. If you had stripped splines or a busted output shaft you wouldn't get far without a limited slip diff. Have you checked the transaxle oil level? Perhaps when the seals were replace someone damaged a bearing extracting the old seals. Or tampered with the bearing preload adjuster. Now that would cause a whine and a leak at the same time.

Steve

[pauli]

hi,

thanks for the replys so far, it is not the whole driveshaft that will turn, just the casing on the outside of it (n/s driveshaft and in the u.k). I was going to give the tranny an oil change before i noticed this leak, it seems like a drip coming from around the oil seal/casing. I am wondering if they put the o ring on the shaft or not, as when the so called mechanic hahahahaha put it in he said he had problems getting that side in, so from what i have seen in the past when this happens thay just throw the o ring to one side as it should then just slide in.
Starting to get to me this one, especially after all this work should have been done, but i have so far ended up putting a lot of their mistakes right, but am learning at the same time which can`t be bad for me in the long run, BUT BAD FOR THEM.
Any comments please
any of you guys going to Donnongton this weekend?

thanks