I am having a pretty bad problem.

On the new to me Manual Trans the seal from the Passenger Side Axle was leaking.

The leak was so bad I lost all the fluid on a recent trip.

Yesterday I replaced the seal with a new one from Autozone.

I checked the area that the seal goes into before I put the new one in and everything looked good. So galling or scratches.

I Also I could see that the oil is coming from the area where the axle goes into the seal.

So I put in the new seal, which went in fairly easy - I used my fingers to work the seal in as much as I could and the lightly tapped it in on the outside edge with a hammer.

I have put many seals in before and have never had one leak.

Anyway this one is leaking pretty bad. The leak seems worse than it was with the old seal.

Now I did not look at the axle mating surface but have no reason to suspect the surface is bad as this is the same axle that was in my Auto Trans which did not leak at all.

Autozone has 2 different seals, the one I bought for $8.99 and one for $35.99. (what makes this seal so expensive???) I am thinking about buying the more expensive one and returning the cheaper one. Do you think the more expensive one might fix the problem?

What else can be the problem?

I need to fix this leak ASAP.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Try an OEM seal from a Honda dealer. I noticed that the seal depth on an aftermarket (SKF) seal was 8mm vs. 9mm for the OEM seal. This was for the driver's side axle on my automatic.

An OEM seal is probably about $10.

Use a plastic hammer or a block of wood to seat the seal; don't heat the seal directly with a steel hammer.

 

Good info
I do not have a Honda dealer anywhere near me (I live in BFE)

I am thinking it may be a bad CV axle

I have had a vibration at 60 mph with 2 different sets of tires.

If the CV is vibrating I can see that causing the seal to leak.

What do you think?

 

Maybe. I've read that worn out differential carrier bearings will yank a seal around and shorten its life.

Mail order an OEM seal?

 

I bought a new CV Axle

What are the odds it is a bad trans bearing?

 

anyone else have any experience with this?

 

just got done changing the axle.

I really think this is going to solve the problem.

Here is why,

After I put the trans in I drove it for around 1000 miles then it started popping out of fifth gear. When I checked the fluid it was completely out. It took 2 quarts to fill it back up.

When I got the trans it was attached to a blown motor.

When I pulled the trans off and laid it on its side when I was cleaning it up it spilled well over a quart of oil out. That means it wasn't leaking for the previous owner.

I used my passenger axle from my Auto as I thought it was a good one.

Now we have always had a good vibration between 60 and 65 MPH. Even after changing the tires we still had the same issue.

So I just changed the axle and took it for a ride, no more vibration.

I just parked it and put some cardboard under it, I will see in the am if there is any oil.

I sure hope not, I am kinda sick of working on the car so much.

 

even though there seems to be no interest in this thread I will update it in case someone in the future has the same problem.

After a couple of hours I just checked the cardboard and there is nothing on it, dry, the leak is fixed.

It was a bad axle. Kind of surprising to me.

 

yeah, I'd not thoght a bad CV joint would show up at speed, but this is more than that

 

Crispin,

I've been reading your thread. I didn't comment, because I thought that you were on the right track.

You may have just warped the seal when removing it from the AT or installing on the manual. I think they use the same axle seal. Just keep an eye out for leaking transmission fluid. You don't want to ruin the manual transmission and have to replace it again.