Help please! Passanger side transaxle leak..89 accord lxi

i recently changed out both axles on my 89 accord with 2 remanufactured ones from autozone and the driver side is fine and dry but the passanger side wont stop leaking. i have changed the seal 3 times and on the 3rd try, i actually returned the axle and got another one that way i can try to narrow down the problem. i ordered a beck/arnley seal and installed them both. took for a quick test drive (praying that there wont be a leak) and as soon as i get back, theres the tranny fluid making its way down. i checked with a flashlight and i can totally see that the seal is all dry but right at the bottom of it, it is wet and leaking. i can also see that its coming from the inner hole of the seal and not the outer edge. i just don't know what to do. before i try and make my next move can someone please give me a suggestion on what i can do? i want to try one more time before having to go down to a shop. my next seal i get will be from Honda but i was reading something called "speedi sleeve"? does anyone know anything about this? i just wish i never gave up my original axles. i should've just had them repaired and reused them. this lesson is a tuff one to learn. the only reason i traded my originals in were because the cv joints were bad and it was easier just to trade mine in and pop in new ones. my axle never leaked at the seals until i installed the new one. thanks for reading

You are probably seating your seal too deep in the case. On the one side, if you press the seal in until it stops, it will be riding against the diff and will get chewed up. Next time, just drive the seal until it is flush with the outside of the case and leave it. Beck/Arnley are good seals, so there's no need to make a special trip to the dealer unless you really want to.

Let us know how it turns out.

thanks for the quick response. I made sure to only press the seal to the flush position the last couple of times. I was looking at the last one I installed and theres no signs of any damage on the backside of the seal. is there something that I should look for that would be obvious that im missing? could there be possible play happening that is allowing the fluid to come out? im wondering if im seating the seal flush and when I put the transaxle in its pushing it in somehow? when I checked last night underneath with a flashlight I can totally see that the fluid is clearly coming from the bottom of the seal only and not the outer edge but from the shaft hole. the seal looks flush. its also enough fluid that its throwing back to the sway bar a little bit. the rest of the seal is dry. weird....would you happen to know anything about this speedi sleeve that I heard about? I don't know where to go from here but I have to get this fixed for sure. I just redid the entire suspension and everything is running so smooth. this little problem is holding me back from moving forward with it and its frustrating. ill wait to hear for suggestions for I can give it another try......

No special sleeve is necessary. I went through this same thing on my LXi, it's very frustrating. What I learned is that flush is too far in, seriously. Leave the seal out a little more than flush, let it protrude from the transmission a little, maybe 1/16 or so. What I did is left the seal sticking out a little and let the axle push it in when it seats in the transmission. Make sure the snap ring still clicks, and try to not use your CV like a slide hammer lol. Just gently tap the CV knucke until you can feel that snap ring seat. You want that little tiny lip that sticks out on the seal to touch the CV axle.

My tranny leaked for months before I finally figured this out. :D

The annoying thing for me was that there is no data anywhere, that I could find, that states exactly how far to push in seals like these...

Assuming that your case isn't cracked, why not just smear the seal with a little RTV before putting it in?

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Originally Posted by Dr_Snooz

Assuming that your case isn't cracked, why not just smear the seal with a little RTV before putting it in?

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I think it's leaking where the cv joint shaft goes through the seal, thats a rotating seal. The first mistake he made was using autozone axles, they are junk, they probably also have the really cheap circlips that dont lock the axle properly,which will cause it to leak< i went through a nightmare trying to find decent axles

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lostforawhile

I think it's leaking where the cv joint shaft goes through the seal, thats a rotating seal. The first mistake he made was using autozone axles, they are junk, they probably also have the really cheap circlips that dont lock the axle properly,which will cause it to leak< i went through a nightmare trying to find decent axles

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Luckily the AZ axle has a lifetime warranty. I made the same mistake - shopping at Autozone lol. What I did was return the lifetime warranty axle and bought their "Gold" series, which was only like $10 more. It still has a lifetime warranty and is brand new so less worries about the shaft being out of tolerance from the reman-factory.

The best thing about lifetime parts is you can always return them for a full refund at Autozone, you don't necessarily need to trade them in for a replacement.

But indeed - buy an OEM transmission seal for like $12.
You could also go the extra mile and buy a separate snap ring if you question the quality.

Test fit the seal on the axle before putting either in. I had problems with auto zone and advance auto were the seal fit the trans but was to small for the axle to slide into. Ended up putting the original 25 year old seal back in to get mine to stop leaking.

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk

well im finally back to say what happened with my leak problem. first of all thanks for the suggestions cause I went through them all before finally just dropping the tranny and taking it to be completely rebuilt from the bottom up. I went through 4 seals and 4 axles returns. I kept noticing a very light vibration but at first I couldn't tell if it was the axles or maybe the hub. I checked the hub and it was fine so, I kept hearing that az axles are the worst. so, I exchanged them 4 times hoping that this was the problem. that light vibration (and I mean real light) was the differential from that side. I dropped the tranny and I just had the shop that I regularly do business with rebuild the whole thing since I already have it out and theres 275,000 miles on it. put it back in and BAM.... brand new 89' lxi again. its weird, I never expected to do all the work ive done to it but, im the 2nd owner and ive gone through the whole thing. every seal, bushing, brakes, belts and now the tranny. damn thing is a brand new car. this is the best running car I own now. doesn't burn a drop of oil and just passed smog like a brand new vehicle the guy said. guess im married to it now. I have an 08 chevy that burns a little oil already... unbelievable! this motor has not been rebuilt just maintained from 1st owner on through me with regular maintence. im going to sit back for the next 30days and recoop from this small adventure of doing it yourself headaches and drive it around to make sure no leaks or anything else pops up. which it shouldn't after all ive done to it. ready to redo the interior and outside paint in april & may. pumped up about it. its going to look good.

Congrats. Do you think the diff was wobbling inside the case and that caused the leak?

yea that's exactly what happened. it just started and it was very light vibration and I wasn't going to push it and just rather jump on the situation as fast as I could and get it right. once it starts wobbling just a little that's the beginning of the situation and that damn tranny fluid just wouldn't stop. even though it was just a little bit. it took me a day debating if I was all in or just going to cut it loose because of how much it costs to do a complete rebuild. considering that I know all the work ive done to it...it just wasn't worth going and trying to find and drop money on someone elses problems. best decision ive made because to drive this vehicle now is so smooth. im already lookn into purchasing the original 18 spoke alloys. I have the original painted grey one's that are in great condition but those alloys are just so much better looking. hey, I see on that burgundy ride of yours, that it has the fog lamps. can you send a pic of the switch and where can I get some? I also need the plastic scrape plate for underneath. mine is beaten up like all originals but is there somewhere I can get one? do they reproduce them? where a good general website to get some oem parts? thanks

I don't have a pic of mine, but there is a pic of one like it in this thread. Someone was selling a fog switch on here not long ago. I swapped out my factory fogs years ago with some cheapies from Kragen. They are a different size, but I think they fit the bumper much better. The factory fogs look like the ones in the thread above. They are almost impossible to find anymore. Keep an eye out at the junkyard and watch for sale threads here. Occasionally someone finds a set and sells them.