2002 Hyundai Accent transaxle output shaft seal leak

ktamm · 01-03-2012, 02:32 PM

A little background:

Approximately 8 months ago I had my car in for servicing at my local Hyundai dealership when they commented that the CV boots were cracked and needed to be replaced along with 3/4 of the shocks. Took the vehicle home and had a look at it with a mechanic friend of mine. We decided that we would replace the parts ourselves as it wouldn't be too difficult and I'd be able to save some $$$. After replacing the axles approximately 7 months ago, I noticed a leak coming from the bottom of my car. Upon further investigation my friend and I figured the leak to be coming from the axle seal (we didn't replace these when we did the axle).

Currently / ongoing issues:
In the last week we have replaced the seal in question a total of 3 times. The first two seals we bought were from local auto parts stores (SKF brand) which did not fix the issue. We then bought a genuine hyundai part and comparing the SKF and genuine were confident that the difference between after market and genuine would be the difference.... No such luck. There is still gear oil leaking from the car and we have no idea what could be causing the issue.... has anyone come across this issue before or has any suggestions as to what could be causing the problems???

Thanks in advance for the help!!

rocconi · 01-03-2012, 03:51 PM

Is the leak coming from the the point where the axle meets the rubber seal or from where the seal is pushed into the transmission? If it is the latter perhaps the housing was damaged. A little degreasing and some silicone sealant should solve the latter problem. If it is coming from the axle/seal junction check that the axle was rebuilt properly and has no groves where it contacts the seal and that it is the proper diameter and not too small for the seal to work properly.

ktamm · 01-03-2012, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the quick reply!

I can't really tell which side of the seal it is leaking from. My guess would be from the axle and seal interface vs the housing and seal face, but its just a guess. I took a couple of pictures if someone could spot the difference or can explain a better way to troubleshoot the issue ...

Photo Album - Imgur

DREROB · 01-05-2012, 02:14 AM

Cant tell from the pics, best bet is to pull it apart and look for damage to the axle input shaft or at the transmission casing as stated previously.

rocconi · 01-05-2012, 10:50 AM

Are both sides leaking or did some of the pictures get reversed somehow? If it is both sides I would suspect some sort of problem with the diameter of the axle where it meets the seal. It looks to me like the leak is from the axle and not the transmission. If it were from the transmission side there should be no oil drips on the axle only the transmission housing. Call the axle supplier and ask them for help. I am sure that they have dealt with this problem before.

ashishm02 · 12-04-2012, 09:20 PM

Ktamm,

Did you ever find why it was leaking? I have the same issue.

Thanks,
John M.

ktamm · 12-04-2012, 09:42 PM

Spoke with the shop where we bought the rebuilt axle thinking that there might have been issues with the machining, possibly an un-even surface that we couldn't see/feel. Took some convincing but they let us trade the one we bought in for a different (new) one.

We replaced the seal one more time with a new genuine hyundai seal (2nd one) and were EXTREMELY careful when we put it in. Made a tool out of some scrap metal that the seal fit on to so that we could tap the seal in uniformly. Previously we were filling the gap where the spring sits with a heavy grease and tapping around the outside with a hammer gently. Seal seemed to be fine after the axle replacement. Got rid of the car about a month or 2 after that for a new car so not sure where it is now.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

ashishm02 · 12-04-2012, 11:03 PM

Thanks for response. Just couple of more questions.

Do you know the part number that you bought? I called multiple dealerships and they had no clue what the part number was.

Secondly, can you take a pic of the tool you made? I just want to see how it looks.

Finally, so according to you, what do you think the issue was that caused the leak? The seal or the axle?

Thanks,
John M.

ktamm · 12-09-2012, 07:43 PM

Sorry for the delayed response.

Don't know the part number, I talked to a few hyundai dealerships and everyone knew what I was talking about.

Threw the tool out a few months back. Was basically a 2" metal slug then we welded a piece of pipe on the end so its OD was the same as the seal ID and we could tap the seal into place.

Can't really say what was causing the leak. Changed out that seal so many times I would say it was probably the axle. (probably tried 3 SKF ones and a genuine with the 'bad' axle' then another when we changed the axle out)

Norubit · 02-11-2013, 01:57 PM

Any and all dealerships should know exactly what these seals are and should have them in stock. They are *supposed* to be replaced any time the output shaft is removed.

You can buy a seal driver from harbor freight with assorted sizes if you don't have other stuff lying around that will do the job.