The tail shaft seal on my N/A transmission has a slow leak that is dripping onto the exhaust. The transmission has a little over 100k miles on it. Should I just replace the seal, or put in a whole new transmission all together? It seems to be in decent shape, but if I am gonna go through the trouble of removing the driveshaft it seems like it would make sense to just replace the tranny all together. If so, where do you think the best place to find a reman would be? I'd rather not get a used one cause I have no idea of it's condition.

 

If the trans is in decent shape why not spend the few $$$ to replace the seal. Removing the driveshaft is a lot simpler than to replace the trans. Personally, when the trans needs work, I'd rebuild the trans I have, unless it's totally destroyed. Had my trans rebuilt twice, once @ 85,000 and again at 155,000. Just a little syncro noise, but wanted it fixed when the engine replaced @ 155,000.

 

Turbonut's right- that's the easiest seal to replace on the whole car, by far...Make sure you drain the fluid first, or you'll get a bath (depending on the orientation of the car)...

 

rear tranny seal is cake on a RWD car.

i did the job on my 240sx in about 15 minutes. it'd probably take you rx7 guys longer b/c u have to drop the dual exhaust to get the driveshaft off.

edit:

0. drain tranny fluid.

1. exhaust off
2. driveshaft out
3. pop out seal with a screwdriver (or a seal puller if ur finicky)
4. put in new one, bang it in with a rubber hammer or something
5. put everything back together, fill tranny.

i'd imagine it'd take you 30 minutes at most. the seal itself is a few bucks.

 

Damn, I've never done anything to the tranny on this car, didn't think it was that simple. I know replacing the one on my truck was a bitch.

 

live and learn... hell it took me about 3 months to get the courage to start screwing around with this stuff... lol. lots of little drips and drops of tranny fluid where i park.

 

I remember helping out...kinda. I should probably replace my rear tranny seal when I replace driveshaft and exhaust right?

And on my driveway!! >_<

 

You wouldn't need to if it's not leaking, but for insurance and the low cost of the seal, it's worth it. Just place some lube on the seal/d/s when you slide it back into the trans.