Gearbox/driveshaft oil seal questions

[rob090881]

Hi all, I'm new on here. I've joined because my Mrs owns a 1.2 9N, which I am obviously responsible for maintaining, lol.
The polo very rarely spends any time above 40-50mph, because she only does short commutes. However, yesterday we went to Cheshire oaks outlet village, which is around 15-20 mins down a dual carriage way. The Mrs sat at 70mph all the way. When all of sudden it popped out of 5th and relined for a number of seconds. This unfortunately happened a few times, and struggled to go into 5th and 4th.
So today I checked the car over.
The gear linkages look ok, and so do the engine mounts. But I could be wrong. I then checked the gearbox oil. There was very little! Like an egg cup full?!?!?

So I filled it up, drove 7-8 mile, and it has leaked a fair bit. When I got home, there is lots of oil around the passenger side driveshaft.

So I'm guessing my driveshaft oil seal has gone? How hard is it to change, and how long should it take?
Should I be looking for anything else?
Here is a photo of the area in question. Does that driveshaft look OK? The car is parked on a slight hill with the wheel straight, but that joint looks a bit disjointed, or am I being paranoid?

Thanks
Rob

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[alexperkins]

I'd say that driveshaft oil seal has failed.

Its a bit of an evil job. I would probably entrust it to a local independent garage if you havent done one before. Driveshaft has to come off, then the driveshaft cup has to be pulled out, then seal out and reverse. Not a 5 minute task.

[RUM4MO]

I hope that it is only an oil seal that has failed, I tend to get very negative about the root cause when I see oil leaking out of a shaft housing, and assume the worst, ie worn bearings causing the oil seal to wear and start leaking, I hope that in your case I am wrong!

[rob090881]

If there is something more severe wrong, is it usually obvious?
I'm happy to do the work myself. From what I've read, I should allow 2-3 hours.
Should I be removing the driveshaft from the hub, or is that not necessary? If I do, what size is the hub nut? Do I need a new one? I've not even had the wheels off this car yet, so im not entirely sure what to expect yet

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[alexperkins]

http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/ ... e/removal/

http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/ ... e/removal/

You dont need to remove the driveshaft from the hub. Only from the gearbox.

Youll need an M8 triplesquare tool to undo the driveshaft bolts.

[rob090881]

M8 splined tool? Is that the same as a Torxs bit?

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[alexperkins]

No, very different. Torx is a star.

Correct term is triplesquare

[rob090881]

No, very different. Torx is a star.

Correct term is triplesquare

Thanks for that. Another excuse to add to my tool collection

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[bvs]

A 'Spline' drive set will be a useful addition to your tool collection Rob,I was lucky the other week whilst replacing a door lock module - I was using an online guide as a partial reference to help me and the writer had posted that the 2 largeish bolts on the actual lock body were torx - but they were actually spline drive - boy was I glad I had a multi bit set (sunday afternoon LOL).

Now thanks to Alex I know the correct name for them

Good luck with the seal etc btw

rgds baz

[alexperkins]

I know people that have tried to force torx into spline. I don’t need to tell you what happened

Needless to say, many swear words and hours of work later they were back to where they would’ve been if the used the correct tool

[rob090881]

So I haven't used my M8 splined tool yet. The shaft has pulled out without using it. Should I be worried?
Admittedly there is not a lot of room.
I'm guessing that is the seal I'm trying to replace at the front? Any suggestions on how to get it out without a puller or slide hammer/mallet? No oil leaked out, so I'm guessing it all leaked out again?!?!?

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[alexperkins]

That’s very concerning. The driveshaft flange has completely detached from the gearbox. It’s meant to be bolted in!!!

Yes the seal at the front is what you are meant to be replacing. I think you’ll need a new driveshaft flange and new center bolt to go with it

The M8 spline tool is to undo the 8 bolts that hold the driveshaft onto the flange you can see in the photo.

[rob090881]

So would I be right in thinking that the seal might be OK, the problem is that the shaft has been allowed to retract enough to let the oil out? I can feel the end of a bolt sticking out of the coupling, so at least I have that!

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[alexperkins]

The question you have to ask is how on earth has that come undone. The seal is likely damaged due to it not being tightened down properly

There’s also parts missing now. A shim, a special spring and a few washers. Do you want a copy of the diagram?

[rob090881]

I think they are still there. Once it's off, I'll take a pic of what I have

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