Axle seating

[DemonicAngel]

I have changed my passenger side axle seal, however, when re-installing the axle, it does not sit flush against the transmission housing.
Is the axle supposed to be flush with it or is there supposed to be a tiny gap?
I tried pushing it in further but am not able to do so.
For those who have replaced the axle or axle seal, did you guys have any gap??

[Legend_master]

The axle should seat up against the seal. Try looking at the other axle and see if they are similar.

[Oldblueaccord]

Yeah it does not sound like its seated all the way. The clip can be stubborn. May have to take a block of wood and hit the inner joint with a hammer to get it to fully seat.

[niles]

How big is the tiny gap? Less than 1/4 inch?

[2ndGenGuy]

You know what the problem probably is? It's those circlips in the end of the halfshaft. I can't count the number of times I've had this problem. What I wind up doing is pulling the circlip off of the old axle, and putting it on the new one, then the new one will slide right in. I think the new circlips are just too big and can't compress into the splines in the transmission properly. These aftermarket rebuilders probably just grab clips that are close enough and toss them on.

[Dr_Snooz]

I've seen them with gaps and they didn't have any issues. There are about 3 different sealing lips on the OE seals. If it isn't tight against the seal, there are still two other lips around the spline shaft. I don't know why they do that sometimes. Just make sure that the shaft is fully seated in the trans and you should be fine.

[Jafir]

The inner joint has plenty of in-out movement. I usually just use the axle shaft as a hammer, pull the shaft out of the joint an inch or so and firmly drive it home. Usually just one or two good taps and the inner joint will seat.

[DemonicAngel]

Thanks for all the responses guys, really appreciate it!
The gap is slightly less than 1/4 inch however, it isnt the in-out movement that bugs me.
There is so much play that i can move it up/down, left/right so it definitely does not create a seal at all.
Does this mean that it isn't seated in far enough?? What can cause it to have sooooo much play.
I tried using the axle shaft as a hammer as stated by Jafir but no luck.
Does the axle seal prevent the axle from moving like that or does it just simply create a seal?
The reason I ask that is because maybe I pushed the seal too far in? So thats why there is a gap and I need to pull it out more.
Or is the axle seal not far enough in preventing the axle itself not to be able to go deep enough to be seated.

It also crossed my mind that maybe it is the little snap ring 2ndgenguy was talking about. Perhaps I need a new one.
Anyhow, I did shake the driver side axle to compare the two and it had no play whatsoever. So something is definitely off for my passenger side install.

[Hazwan]

That doesn't sound normal at all. Are you sure you have the correct axle?

[DemonicAngel]

I am only changing the seal, not the axle. however, it always did have a leak. I don't know if the previous owner changed the axle or not. I would like to make the car reliable for once so any help is much appreciated.

[charliefowle03]

I recall having a 1/8 or so gap between the housing and the big metal round part when i installed the passenger side on my 83. Heard the clip go in though. Im almost sure i got mine sealed all the way. Can you grab a picture?

[Dr_Snooz]

I'd check the condition of the spline shaft and check for obstructions in the diff. Something is going on, you just have to figure out what.

[DemonicAngel]

it turns out that the seal was pushed too far in..it was flush with the tranny housing but apparently that's too far in

[niles]

How far in is the correct amount? I have heard from other poeple on the forum that flush is correct...

[DemonicAngel]

ya that's what I heard and all the YouTube videos and forum messages say to put the seal in first then gently tap on it till it is flush with the tranny housing.
however, I think that is a foolish way of doing it and error prone. its easier to simply put the seal on ur axle. then push ur axle in as far as it can go. that way u don't have to worry about the seal being too far in or sticking out too much. the axle and seal will be seated nice and tight against one another.
this also takes away the issue of people saying that they have a hard time putting the seal in evenly as sometimes the top or bottom of the seal is in further.
anyhow, that's how I did it without any issues.

[niles]

Wow, thanks for the advice. You have a very simple and clever method. I will explore this on wednesday when I replace the axle that has been leaking ever since I replaced the original CV. I am sick of having a mist of tranny fluid on the back of my car from the slow drip while driving!

The shop manual shows it being installed with a "special tool" but does not define where the seal sits once its installed.

I am curious to know where the seal sits on the tranny when using the axle as the install tool. Anybody else try this method? I am not about to ask DemonicAngel to pull his axle back out LOL!

[DemonicAngel]

lol the axle seal sticks out maybe a 1/8 inch from the tranny housing.
what I did was put the axle into the tranny without the seal just to see how much of a gap there is.
thats when I realized the seal was too far in the first time I did it which explains why it still leaked.
so I proceeded to use the method I described above and success! not to mention it was also super quick and easy to do it that way.

[niles]

So today I tried DemonicAngel's suggestion for putting in the axle seal, after the first test drive NO LEAKS! Yeahhh

I will do some more testing this week. But unless it starts leaking, I will have to say this was suuuuper helpful and GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks DemonicAngel!