Pillowsplat Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 I was getting an oil smell in the cabin of an 03 Legacy OBW 120,000 miles. The shop owner determined the axle seals were leaking and probably should be replaced. Now as a little bit of history this guy comes highly recomended by sources I trust so I am taking him at his word. Here is the problem. He dismantled the axle stubs and proceeded to take out the 4-5" disks that house the seals. He got them to turn a bit then then it just seized. He showed me how they should come out on another trans. It looks like a piece of cake with the special tool. At this point he had the Whole tranmission/Differtial/transfer case out of the car to get a better look and more leverage. No luck he couldn't budge it. He called his Subaru Gurus and everybody seemed stumped. At this point I could see the fustration in his eyes and he said he wanted to just get a used transmission instead of the 10 hours rebuilding. It made sense to me. Has anybody run into this problem getting these seal holders out? Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 are you absolutely sure those seals were leaking? that is very odd for them to leak. i was told that removing the plate that holds the seals in is a very bad idea. i believe that plate holds some pinion shaft or some other critical part in place inside the front differential and is very tricky to get properly aligned. at least this is what i was told by a very reputable moderator of another subaru group when i was contemplating replacing mine as "prevenatative maintenance". obviously i didn't go through with it. you said "seals", "stubs" and "discs" like he messed with both sides. i find that VERY strange and highly unlikely that both sides were leaking. the most common cause of the smell at your mileage would be busted CV joints. grease splattering on hot parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 They sieze all right! And the worst part is you cant use an air hammer on it because its just aluminum on aluminum and it will take all those little teeth off. You didnt say if it was a manual or automatic. On an automatic you would just replace the front diff and pinion gear, a used trans would provide those parts but they need to be a matched set. It certainly wouldnt be a 10 hour job to replace the seals only though...and on an 03 I dont see how these would be leaking yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillowsplat Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 It is an Automatic. They were leaking. In fact the green stub was covered with signs of leaking the oil. Drips on to the exhaust wishbone. Great smell at the stop lights! 10 hour job to swap out the front part of the transmission. A little more history this local shop has been working on Subies for 15+ years. They are the best in town. Sometimes stuff goes wrong. He talked about the air hammer as well but it would be a bigger hammer and damage was likely. I think the reality is labor is more than the part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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