Hey all,
This will be a short how-to guide on how to replace your leaky oil seal that sits right under the shifter lever on your 2G AWD trans. It allows you to change this seal WITHOUT pulling the transmission OFF and APART!!! It's all done with the trans on the car, and the car on the ground! The procedure should be the same for a FWD case, and possibly even easier for 1Gs since they don't use the additional counterweight on top! The seal in question is part number MD747660 for all 2Gs and most 1Gs.
I also want to state that all credit for the procedure goes to Jack and Tim from Jack's Transmission. You can read his comment in this thread: Transmission leaking from gear select lever?
Now, tools you will need, assuming you've already taken off the parts in the way, such as any intake pipes, vacuum lines and possibly catch cans. You need to allow enough room around the shift shaft so you can fit a compact air hammer and a point-tip punch attached to it. No other tool will get the job done. Here's an example of the hammer and punch:
Now, onto the steps!
Step 1. Remove the two 12mm bolts holding the longitudinal bracket on and tuck both cables away, use a cable tie if needed.
Step 2. Put your air hammer on max power and make sure the tip is tapered enough so that it can touch the metal pins (they are solid hardened steel pins). You will follow the two arrows for where to point the hammer from. If you try to hammer them from the opposite side, you will make them get tighter and risk getting in bigger trouble. Play around with the shifter to put it in different gears so you can get the right angle to work with.
Step 3. If your hammer punch isn't long and thin enough to fully hammer the pins out, you need to use something like a bolt or other solid type of steel that can go into that hole and allow you to keep hammering on it so you can fully get it out. In my case, we used a big M10 bolt with a torx head and ground part of the bolt down so it can fit and sit flush against the pin. I then used the air hammer on the bolt which in turn pushed the pin out.
Step 4. Now get your C clamp or best is to use a balljoint separator. I placed a small nut in the area circled in red. Start tightening the separator steadily. Keep watching if it starts to slip off or bending stuff it shouldn't! When you can't see the nut anymore, remove the nut and place a longer bolt so you can continue to essentially press the top part of the lever (counterweight) off. It will suddenly pop off from being unseized from the rust.
Step 5. At this point, I suggest you take some scotch brite to clean the surface on the poking shaft real good. There's a chance the lower part wont slide clean off. In that case, pull it up as much as it will go, then use the same method with the balljoint separator to press it out from the shaft. It should go out smooth and steady.
Step 6. Pull off the rubber boot and clean it up. Now, you need to pry the seal up. It DOES NOT sit flush with the trans. It's meant to have some space between the case and the lip as seen in the picture above. I used a flathead screwdriver from beneath and hammered on it lightly to push the seal out.
Step 7. Degrease the surrounding area and the area around the shaft and above the shaft bearing (the bearing sits beneath the oil seal). Oil the inside lip of the new seal just a little and slide it over the shaft. You can tap around the edges lightly until it seats firmly over the bearing, but I personally used a much bigger socket that went over the shaft and I could hammer on it equally to drive the new seal in.
That's it! You've changed out the damn leaky seal without taking the tranny off and apart! Now, it's a matter of going back through the steps to assemble everything together. One thing I'd like to clarify, the rubber boot needs to sit over the oil seal lip that you can see.
One other note I'd like to make because I forgot to take a picture, the metal press pin is solid but has 3 small slits along half of its length. When you go to put them back in, you need to put the solid end in first and use a small hammer to tap the end with the slits in as far as it will go (not much room to swing a big hammer). Take care not to mushroom the head of the pin. I didn't have a small C-clamp so I used the same balljoint separator to act as a clamp and pressed the pins in almost fully. A bit tricky, but doable!
That should cover the whole process. I hope this helps!
This will be a short how-to guide on how to replace your leaky oil seal that sits right under the shifter lever on your 2G AWD trans. It allows you to change this seal WITHOUT pulling the transmission OFF and APART!!! It's all done with the trans on the car, and the car on the ground! The procedure should be the same for a FWD case, and possibly even easier for 1Gs since they don't use the additional counterweight on top! The seal in question is part number MD747660 for all 2Gs and most 1Gs.
I also want to state that all credit for the procedure goes to Jack and Tim from Jack's Transmission. You can read his comment in this thread: Transmission leaking from gear select lever?
Now, tools you will need, assuming you've already taken off the parts in the way, such as any intake pipes, vacuum lines and possibly catch cans. You need to allow enough room around the shift shaft so you can fit a compact air hammer and a point-tip punch attached to it. No other tool will get the job done. Here's an example of the hammer and punch:
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- Air Hammer
- Needle nose pliers
- 12mm socket
- Flathead screwdriver (medium sized)
- Hammer
- Some sort of strong but small C-clamp or balljoint separating clamp
- Brake Cleaner to clean up any residual oil and dirt
Now, onto the steps!
Step 1. Remove the two 12mm bolts holding the longitudinal bracket on and tuck both cables away, use a cable tie if needed.
Step 2. Put your air hammer on max power and make sure the tip is tapered enough so that it can touch the metal pins (they are solid hardened steel pins). You will follow the two arrows for where to point the hammer from. If you try to hammer them from the opposite side, you will make them get tighter and risk getting in bigger trouble. Play around with the shifter to put it in different gears so you can get the right angle to work with.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Step 3. If your hammer punch isn't long and thin enough to fully hammer the pins out, you need to use something like a bolt or other solid type of steel that can go into that hole and allow you to keep hammering on it so you can fully get it out. In my case, we used a big M10 bolt with a torx head and ground part of the bolt down so it can fit and sit flush against the pin. I then used the air hammer on the bolt which in turn pushed the pin out.
Step 4. Now get your C clamp or best is to use a balljoint separator. I placed a small nut in the area circled in red. Start tightening the separator steadily. Keep watching if it starts to slip off or bending stuff it shouldn't! When you can't see the nut anymore, remove the nut and place a longer bolt so you can continue to essentially press the top part of the lever (counterweight) off. It will suddenly pop off from being unseized from the rust.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Step 5. At this point, I suggest you take some scotch brite to clean the surface on the poking shaft real good. There's a chance the lower part wont slide clean off. In that case, pull it up as much as it will go, then use the same method with the balljoint separator to press it out from the shaft. It should go out smooth and steady.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Step 6. Pull off the rubber boot and clean it up. Now, you need to pry the seal up. It DOES NOT sit flush with the trans. It's meant to have some space between the case and the lip as seen in the picture above. I used a flathead screwdriver from beneath and hammered on it lightly to push the seal out.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Step 7. Degrease the surrounding area and the area around the shaft and above the shaft bearing (the bearing sits beneath the oil seal). Oil the inside lip of the new seal just a little and slide it over the shaft. You can tap around the edges lightly until it seats firmly over the bearing, but I personally used a much bigger socket that went over the shaft and I could hammer on it equally to drive the new seal in.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
That's it! You've changed out the damn leaky seal without taking the tranny off and apart! Now, it's a matter of going back through the steps to assemble everything together. One thing I'd like to clarify, the rubber boot needs to sit over the oil seal lip that you can see.
One other note I'd like to make because I forgot to take a picture, the metal press pin is solid but has 3 small slits along half of its length. When you go to put them back in, you need to put the solid end in first and use a small hammer to tap the end with the slits in as far as it will go (not much room to swing a big hammer). Take care not to mushroom the head of the pin. I didn't have a small C-clamp so I used the same balljoint separator to act as a clamp and pressed the pins in almost fully. A bit tricky, but doable!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
That should cover the whole process. I hope this helps!
