Driveshaft seals look odd

[go-for-it1]

I spent the afternoon changing all the bushes on my gear linkage and whilst I was underneath I noticed a small oil leak coming from the area around the driveshaft oil seal on the drivers side. The oil is not showing up on the garage floor so I didn't notice it till today so it must only be leaking when running. I checked the gearbox oil level and had to put about a 1/4 litre in but I am a bit worried that the driveshaft seal has almost popped out and if it coes out further will dump the oil whilst running. You can see the green seal (I assume thats what it is) in the 1st photo compared with the other side in the second. I tried to push it back in but it was stuck tight, also I don't know the size of the seal so don't know how much more it needs to be pushed out before catastrophe. Is this fixable and is it a box out job?


Drivers side

Passenger side

[mark1gls]

The green bit of plastic you can see are suppost to be like that, the seals are inside them and are black.
It is possible to change the seals with the gearbox in the car I found I had to remove the drive shafts completely as once they was undo at the gear box end I could not move them away from the gearbox flange. You will need to make or buy a tool to hold the flange in while you take the circlip out as they have a spring pushing them out and if you manage to remove the circlip the flange will shoot off!
Mine leaked for about a year before I got around the changing the seals just checked the gearbox oil every now and then.
Mine are leaking again affer 2 years as I've play in the flanges as the gearbox has covered 250,000 miles.
Helpful website
http://www.brokevw.com/020flange.html
My home made tool using threaded bars, nuts, washers and bits of ally I had.

[go-for-it1]

Thanks Mark, pheww, thought i was heading for a nightmare! I did see a topic on vortex after I did this post which showed it the same as mine but as the chap was removing his drivesahaft flange I thought it must have been for the same reason. The green section on his looked the same length as the amount showing on mine so feel a bit easier and I can live with the small leak for now. I can go ahead with the planned gearbox oil change now as I halted that incase it was about to shed it all through the seal!
Regards
Rob

[james butler]

One to watch on this aswell is the cap inside the flange that looks like a rubberised 2 pence piece that stops oil from the gearbox leaking into the inner joint. I had a leak comming from the joint that was oil and thought it wAs the gearbox seal, but was this small rubber washer had fell out of position in the flange that bolts to the driveshaft. As you drive centrifugal force pushes the oil out between the joint of the driveshaft to flange.