How long on avg are your drive shaft seals are lasting?

[kyliesmith.com]

I never had any problems with my 89 with leaking seals, but heard that V8's tend to have theirs replaced every other year or so many thousand miles.

So I was thinking if this is a problem that keeps happening, perhaps its a job we can tackle ourselves rather than additional visits to the service agent.. I have got Travis's procedure and some information JoeyO gave me from the service manual. It also does not mention compressing the springs. But have been told I will need to do this which will be a pain.

The fact is I cant stand the look of the tranny with oil splattered all down the sides of it and drops of oil on the garage floor and cobbles is not a good look. Not to mention unknown qty of oil in the tranny So I do want this sorted for this reason.

[neal]

It's really luck of the draw - some seals last, some don't. I had RH one fail literally weeks after being fitted.

The procedures requires a couple of special tools but is pretty simple. As such the labour involved isn't great. However, the seals are 30 quid each, plus the pins, plus a refill of TAF-X making the parts alone around

Edited February 19, 2008 by neal

[outtamyway]

My '01 with just under 8k miles, with the original seals are still leak free. Other than taking it out once a month to lube the seals during the winter storage, I do absolutely nothing special to keep them up. By the way, not a drop of any kind from anywhere on my car contrary to the drive it daily to keep it healthy theory. Just lucky I guess.

[M3S2k]

When I picked up my '99 in july, I had Lotus of Atlanta look the car over and that was the only issue they came back with. They said it was simply damp, though and not actually leaking. I didn't bother replacing, as I wanted to get going, and to this day have not noticed anything on the garage floor. Did a tranny oil change mid summer as well and everything was spotless. Seal was just slightly moist.

[DanR]

Kylie, after re-doing mine more than I wanted to, I found some generic seals easier to get, as in no ordering and waiting, and less expensive than the OEM seal. One of the bug bears about owning these cars so far from the UK seems to necessitate a bit of lateral thinking when it comes to maintenance issues.

On one side I stacked these generic ones on each other, with an OEM seal on the other side. Install the oil seal first and then the dust seal on top. Just be carefull to measure first so that you don't insert them too far.

So far the generic ones have been oil tight and better than the OEM seal.

The characters on the oil seal are: NAK TC 42 58 8 2. For the dust seal they are: NOK BF2595E 23

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Danny

PS Still green with envy with you probably having the only 350 in the southern hemisphere.

[redshift]

Surely there is another variable that is not been mentioned yet?

What is the surface quality of the end of the driveshaft that is making contact with the seal?

Certainly mine looked like they could do with clean up/polishing. Could they be pushed in too far when refitting and thereby damaging the seal edges prematurely.

[joeyoesprit]

I had about 18,000 miles and 3 years on my original seals. I had a small quarter size leak/drop. Lotus of Atlanta changed both seals last march (around $600) for parts, labor, etc. For the next 10 months no leak

[Jonathan]

I totally think this is just a case of good / bad practice when the seals have been replaced in the past.

Seals arn't that complicated however some mechanics seem to be able to mess them right up !

The ones done on the SE I bought were just hilarious and these were done by a BMW specialist - they'd been knocked in with a pin punch, chunks missing out of them !!!!!!

If you follow the Guide of Travis, makes sure the mating faces are clean etc (drive shaft ends) and think about the job of the seal they tend to last their recomended life time.

Couple of things people do wrong:

1) Neglect to clean everything and all the mating faces, or set seals on damaged parts of the drive shaft !! The other side of the SE had this too, looks like someone had put a big pair of stillsons on the driveshaft and the muppets tried putting an oil seal over the area affected instead of driving it in another 5mm........unbelievable.

2) Dont lubricate the seal with the oil it is sealing - simply get oil on your fingers and wet the rubber.

3) Dont push the seals in square, if they're not done with a suitable tool which can damage them and if they're not in square they'll piddle out in no time.

4) Knock them in too far (and then trying to claw them back out) !

5) Dont replace all the seals in 1 go - ie the o-rings as well.

6) The old chesnut - rush the job. It's fiddly and a neck ache to gte right but if you do the prep and take your time it can be done successfully.

[kyliesmith.com]

It's really luck of the draw - some seals last, some don't. I had RH one fail literally weeks after being fitted.

The procedures requires a couple of special tools but is pretty simple. As such the labour involved isn't great. However, the seals are 30 quid each, plus the pins, plus a refill of TAF-X making the parts alone around

[kyliesmith.com]

Kylie, after re-doing mine more than I wanted to, I found some generic seals easier to get, as in no ordering and waiting, and less expensive than the OEM seal. One of the bug bears about owning these cars so far from the UK seems to necessitate a bit of lateral thinking when it comes to maintenance issues.

On one side I stacked these generic ones on each other, with an OEM seal on the other side. Install the oil seal first and then the dust seal on top. Just be carefull to measure first so that you don't insert them too far.

So far the generic ones have been oil tight and better than the OEM seal.

The characters on the oil seal are: NAK TC 42 58 8 2. For the dust seal they are: NOK BF2595E 23

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Danny

PS Still green with envy with you probably having the only 350 in the southern hemisphere.

Hi Danny, thanks for the seal info, all excellent and really helps me a lot.

With ever changing rules here in NZ and the world going greener, it was now or never to bring a S350 in for all to appreciate. I probably would have still been enjoying my 89Carbed Turbo, but I had to act now or miss the boat literally. Govt plans are in draft already to make it extremely hard for cars older than 2002 to bring into the country. Myself and some other friends of mine just made our dreams come true so it

[Paula&Marcus]

Hi All,

From my experience the driveshaft leaking also is dependent on how regular you are using your Esprit. Regularly driven cars tend to leak much less than cars that are in storage for longer time.

My own V8 tends to leak after winter storage almost every year ........ pffffffffffffffff

But this is not a real problem. Get the proper seals and the O-rings and the splines. Installation is a piece of cake. The secret is just to remove the lower-outer supension bolt. With this bolt removed you can do the whole work from underneath with the Esprit on a lift. The whole action does not takes longer than 1 hour for one side.

Cheers

Marcus

Edited February 20, 2008 by Paula&Marcus

[kyliesmith.com]

Hi Marcus we dont have a lift at home, but have access to a mates ones. Ideally if this can be done at home up on axle stands we will try first. Purchase new splines?? I thought Orings, Seals are the only things I need??

[Paula&Marcus]

Kylie,

Maybe I used the wrong word. (In German they are called "Splint").

I'm talking about these c-shaped cotter-pins.

Cheers

Marcus

Hi Marcus we dont have a lift at home, but have access to a mates ones. Ideally if this can be done at home up on axle stands we will try first. Purchase new splines?? I thought Orings, Seals are the only things I need??

[DanR]

Kylie,

Maybe I used the wrong word. (In German they are called "Splint").

I'm talking about these c-shaped cotter-pins.

Cheers

Marcus

Marcus they're called "roll pins" here. The inners are 4.5mm and the outer one is 6mm. I found it virtually impossible to buy the the smaller ones locally otherwise it was a wait for them to come from o's. Tried using the nearest imperial sized ones but they'd start galling partway in.

Eventually I found an engineering place that had old stock BUT they wouldn't sell them individually, only by the box! Kylie if you want some send me a PM and I'll post you enough for a few axle off changes. Also you'll find that the hole for them is slightly off centre so the splines only line up in one position.

[Paula&Marcus]

Oh ... "roll pins" then .... ;o)

BTW, we have the seals + O-ring + roll-pins 4,5mm&6mm as a kit here in stock. Price is Euro 52,- for the kit.

I just call these kits the spring-kit, because I need at least one of these kits every spring for my own V8 ... hmmmmmmmmmmm

Cheers

Marcus

Marcus they're called "roll pins" here. The inners are 4.5mm and the outer one is 6mm. I found it virtually impossible to buy the the smaller ones locally otherwise it was a wait for them to come from o's. Tried using the nearest imperial sized ones but they'd start galling partway in.

Eventually I found an engineering place that had old stock BUT they wouldn't sell them individually, only by the box! Kylie if you want some send me a PM and I'll post you enough for a few axle off changes. Also you'll find that the hole for them is slightly off centre so the splines only line up in one position.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Paula&Marcus

[kyliesmith.com]

Marcus they're called "roll pins" here. The inners are 4.5mm and the outer one is 6mm. I found it virtually impossible to buy the the smaller ones locally otherwise it was a wait for them to come from o's. Tried using the nearest imperial sized ones but they'd start galling partway in.

Eventually I found an engineering place that had old stock BUT they wouldn't sell them individually, only by the box! Kylie if you want some send me a PM and I'll post you enough for a few axle off changes. Also you'll find that the hole for them is slightly off centre so the splines only line up in one position.

Hi Dan I sent ya a PM re the roll pins.

Oh ... "roll pins" then .... ;o)

BTW, we have the seals + O-ring + roll-pins 4,5mm&6mm as a kit here in stock. Price is Euro 52,- for the kit.

I just call these kits the spring-kit, because I need at least one of these kits every spring for my own V8 ... hmmmmmmmmmmm

Cheers

Marcus

Thanks Marcus, if i get stuck getting the parts here, ill be ordering some things off ya.

[kyliesmith.com]

Quick question do you have to remove the castlelated nut which controls preload of the differential bearing assembly? I am of the understanding you dont need to remove it.

If the car is lifted by its jacking points the suspension is left unspring, do I need to compress the rear springs in this position before undoing the lower control arms? The Sport 350 dampers and springs appear to be one unit. Not adjustable.

Cheers

[Paula&Marcus]

Kylie,

No, you should not even touch that castle-nut.

Just put your Esprit on the lift. Let the suspension hang down. Remove the outer-lower suspension bolts. Drive out the roll-pins and then you can slide out the whole drive shaft from the output shaft.

Have a look in the workshop manual. Section FG page 14.

You will not need the special tools mentioned there. For driving the new seal properly in you can easily use a big hex socket. IRRC its the 36mm socket that works for me just fine.

Cheers

Marcus

Quick question do you have to remove the castlelated nut which controls preload of the differential bearing assembly? I am of the understanding you dont need to remove it.

If the car is lifted by its jacking points the suspension is left unspring, do I need to compress the rear springs in this position before undoing the lower control arms? The Sport 350 dampers and springs appear to be one unit. Not adjustable.

Cheers

[DanR]

Be careful with those lower bolts that are also common to the shock-spring mounts. Many here have broken one of the lugs on the hub carrier. If yours has been subjected to salted roads then it's quite likely that bolt has corroded and is siezed in the alloy.

I think Jonathon here has a lot of experience and advice on how best to remove them. Or it may be safer but a little longer to remove the upper hub carrier bolts as well as the inner bolts of the lower lateral suspension link.

Edited February 25, 2008 by DanR

[Jonathan]

Quick question do you have to remove the castlelated nut which controls preload of the differential bearing assembly? I am of the understanding you dont need to remove it.

If the car is lifted by its jacking points the suspension is left unspring, do I need to compress the rear springs in this position before undoing the lower control arms? The Sport 350 dampers and springs appear to be one unit. Not adjustable.

Cheers

Woah - dont touch the castle nut - seriously if anyone does smack them, it's preset specifically to that gearbox - if for any reason it does need to come off it needs to be marked on it's exact position or the whole thing will need to be re-adjusted.

The BMW wizzards done it on my SE, they wound it back on until "that'll do" and the differential was shaking about all over the place lol, hence the reason why I had to re-build the gearbox (gears were fine actually, testament to how tough it really is).

I would personally compress the spring - you can do that when the car is on the deck - simply put the compressors on when the weight of the car is on them then there is very little winding to be done

It makes handing the rear suspension a lot easier, I would probably be inclined to see if the top link would give the necessary leeway to remove the driveshaft as opposed to the bottom one (mainly cus it's a pain it the berttocks).

If you do take the lower link out - be gentle, any serious mullering on the car and you'll crack the ali casting -

[bosbon_be]

Why don't you disconnect the top or lower inner suspension bolts? Leaving the outher connection untouched. You could not damage the hub that way.

Regards,

Peter.

[kyliesmith.com]

Cheers gents! We WONT be touching the castlelated nut will make sure of it

I have a CD Manual arriving hopefully in the next few days to open up some of the diagrams.

Have put loads of CRC spray on the lower arm nuts and will give another going over tonight. Still just trying to hunt out some parts locally, failing this will order some off you Marcus.

[kyliesmith.com]

Why don't you disconnect the top or lower inner suspension bolts? Leaving the outher connection untouched. You could not damage the hub that way.

Regards,

Peter.

I have just been ringing around and I have been recommended to undo the top links otherwise I will get into all sorts of problems.

[Jonathan]

The prob with the lower link is that it runs at an angle, if you look down on the car with x ray vision (what can I say, skill passed down in the family) you'll see the lower control arm at a funny angle going out towards the back of the car.

When you lift the car the lower arm has to twist slightly in the bush which makes the job of getting it back into location and absolute nightmare in the lining up department. I actually invented a new swear word for use JUST on this one part ! Nothing wrong with the car at all, just the way the suspension has been developed.

If you fully compress the spring it can be done (it should be done no other way imo) but you need to do it enough to get the wheels as close to their normal ride height position as possible - it's too much of an arse pain which so why the top link is recomended.

I would totally recomend buying a suitable spring compressor though just to hold the spring closed somewhat which gives you a lot more give and take with the suspension and saves a lot of messing about, if you think it'll scratch the springs, the easiest way is to put some heat shrink over the compressor forks.

[kyliesmith.com]

Thank you matey great advice