Disapearing Gear Oil?

[jazzmandolin]

The gear oil going away on my 92 loyale 4wd I think it is leaking out as it is very wet around the cv axles and the boots are good. I was thinking that my leak was the main seal as the car has 206,000 miles and a throw out bearing that is making nasty noise! But now I am thinking that the stinking to high hell oil burning smell might be leaking gear oil and not the main seal? SO what do you guys think about my issue and where the gear oil might me going? This last time I guess I went just a little too long without checking because I didnt yet realize the issue and the trans started to whine! I filled up the gear oil no more whine but now the oil is gone again:eek: HELP

[idosubaru]

subaru rear main seals almost never leak, very rarely.

 

but you've already done well to identify where it appears to be leaking and it doesn't sound like the rear main. you're obviously loosing gear oil, so it's not the rear main seal which would be engine oil. and it appears to be leaking around the axles. there are seals there for gear oil to leak through. seems like those are leaking.

 

they actually aren't difficult to replace but you have to be very careful to do it exactly right as it affects the gear mesh of the front diff.

 

with the axle removed from the trans there's a large retaining ring. that spins off and then you replace the seal, that's it. that ring is huge. but - you have to mark the location of that ring and install exactly as it was before you touched anything. mark it and count exactly how many turns it takes to remove it. then when you're done installing the new seal count the same number of turns and install it to the same mark you made. this will retain the proper settings for the front diff gears.