Lhs Driveshaft Oil Seal

[IanXT4]

Looks as though my LHS front drive shaft transmission oil seal is starting to leak. I have done a bit of research and its seems straightforward enough to remove the drive shaft, however the oil seal is large and looks as though it might be a pain to replace.

I believe the part number of the seal is 90311-50027 and Toyota show a special service tool that assists with alignment and insertion. The seal appears to have an external lip that I think that stops you using a flat drift to drive it home.

Has anyone successfully replaced one of these oil seals and have any tips for replacement without a service tool. ?

Any other tips/gotchas would be appreciated.

[anchorman]

I never use the proper service tool and have not had any trouble yet. Make sure the housing is clean and then just wipe in some clean engine oil. Find a suitable socket or you can even have a piece of wood turned. Keep it dead straight as you drift it in. Just make sure the spring is still inside after installation and make sure you don't bash it with the drive shaft when it goes back in.

[acetip]

Dont forgt to lubricate the shaft and seal when refitting a bit of grease helps.it stops burning the seal before the oil has a chance to get to it. not such a big problem with driveshafts though as with crankshaf/camshaftst seals.

[IanXT4]

I never use the proper service tool and have not had any trouble yet. Make sure the housing is clean and then just wipe in some clean engine oil. Find a suitable socket or you can even have a piece of wood turned. Keep it dead straight as you drift it in. Just make sure the spring is still inside after installation and make sure you don't bash it with the drive shaft when it goes back in.

Many thanks for the reply Anchorman, but are we talking about the same seal, have I got my facts wrong. The RHS seal sounds like the one you mentioned ?

From info and at a picture I found on the internet, I thought the LHS seal had an OD of 80mm and looked like an jar lid with a hole in it (no spring visible). I believe there is also a circular lip on the outside of the seal just in from the edge which stops you driving in the seal with a flat object (Ie piece of wood) ?

(see pictures for what I thought is the LHS seal)

I like the idea of a socket but my set stops well short of around the the 78mm that would be necessary :D

I have no way of turning wood, so I guess I am going to have to look for something with a suitable diameter, any other ideas would be greatly appreciated ?

[IanXT4]

Well the 30mm socket arrived late today and the hub nut was quickly attacked with a dremel and off in an instant, next the drive shaft separated from the hub no problem.

Then it took ages to remove the inner shaft mainly because my slide hammer could not get a good grip. In desperation I considered acquiring a different slide hammer with a more aggressive hook. However, after rotating the drive shaft many times I I found the correct position and removed the inner spline.

Great I thought could finish this today, placed the seal in the MK1 seal inserter (read seal destroyer) and managed to bugger up the seal.. Teach me to try an finish a job when I am tired. Well tomorrow I will order another £20 oil seal, this seal is a !Removed! its so big it very difficult to drive in straight, every attempt ended in it going in at an angle.

I could really do with some help here, I have a custom hard plastic seal driver that is designed to touch just the edge of the seal. I thought insertion would just a question of gently tapping round the edges however its fitted with a very strong steel band so I though a good straight thump would install/finish the job.

Wrong one wonky seal !! Any tips would be appreciated.

[anchorman]

Spend some time cleaning the housing with very fine emery (about 400 grit) then oil it up. With a big bore seal you sometimes have better luck driving it in with a large flat chunk of metal. You could use that 30mm socket upside down and tap it in with a mallet. If you can find something the same diameter as the seal, better still. You might get it started with your fingers then just go round tapping until it is in - maybe 1mm at a time. Don't twist it and take your time. It will sound and feel different when it is home.

[IanXT4]

OK got the new oil seal together with a few tips from the engineers at my local Toyota garage. I intent to try again tomorrow, their comments were the same as Anchorman, go slowly and keep tapping it straight.

Anchorman one last question that I forgot to ask the technicians today. When reinserting the driveshaft I know to orientate the spring lock pin gap down, but how much force is required to insert the drive shaft. I am hoping its a lot less than removal, as I can see a generous taper on the entry to the spline.

My concern is there is only a couple of mm of spline before the pin spring lock pin engages and i am not sure I can hold alignment and hit it with anything at the same time. (I assume you have to hit it in the same driveshaft slot as used for removal). Is this a one man job ?

Please excuse my ignorance, this is the first time I have messed with drive shafts (and probably my last).

Many thanks

Ian

[anchorman]

It will slide in very easily up to the circlip and then it requires a firm push. I have used a piece of wood to put some extra force on before now but take care not to damage the gaiter. Make sure it won't pull out by hand after. You will know when it is right.

[IanXT4]

Well the jobs done, one of the hardest things I have ever done on a car. (mainly due to the cramped working space). The 80mm diameter oil seal took me the best part of 2 hours to tap in. It took every opportunity to go wonky, it really tested my patience. I would happily pay to have that done again.

The biggest problem is that the seal has an upper lip that stops it being tapped in by anything flat, I had a special drift turned that just touched the rim of the seal and emulated the Toyota service tool but this still drove it in wonky.

If anyone feels masochistic the only way I found to tap in the seal was to take the old seal and cut off the floppy top lip and bottom lip and then use this to slowly tap in the new seal. I tapped it in 1mm at a time using a vernier depth gauge to check it was true. I am sure with practice I could improve on my speed but at £22 for each seal I rather not bother.

The drive shaft was returned to the gearbox by just pushing very hard on the inner CV enclosure, I didn't need any other assistance.

Thanks Anchorman for all your help

Ian

[anchorman]

You get your feet up this weekend - no playing with cars!!