Hi Everyone.
<P>Hopefully somebody can give me the answer to a problem I haven’t been able to solve.
<P>I have an oil leak which appears to be coming from the driveshaft boot (pot joint end).
<P>I’ve poked it about and this is definitely where the oil is coming from. I’ve cleaned all above, emptied and refilled oil, and blanked off above to check for drips.
As far as my limited knowledge goes, from looking at a Haynes maual and by changing the oil seal on the other side, I can’t see that any oil should find it’s way from the gearbox to the driveshaft. It isn’t leaking at the diff cover.
My only thought is that the pot joint has worn a hole/cracked inside and the oil is managing to push it’s way through the grease.
[B]So is this possible ? I don’t want to struggle with the hub hut if i don’t have to.
by the sounds of it, the problem is with the seal on this side, the pot joint is solid so there is no way that oil can seep through into the UJ for the drive shaft.
there is a second sulution and that the grease for the UJ has melted and it is this that is leaking out..
its easy to remove the clip holding the rubber onto the drive shaft just peel it back and check the grease inside it..
I had a pretty bad oil leak on my Clubby, stopped when I took the engine out (obviously!). I did a bit of work to my Cooper, and found a pot joint was damaged, so I put one of the pot joints of the Clubby onto the Cooper - hey presto, bad oil leak again!
Inside the pot joint there is a pressed steel cap which fits over the hole where the splines for the output shaft would have been drawn through during the machining. Its pressed into the body of the pot joint behind the C.V joint itself, so you can only see it if you look down the splines. On mine this plate had come away slightly, allowing oil to seep down, wash all of the grease out of the pot joint and drip onto the floor.
I imagine the same thing has happened to yours chocadoobee! And welcome to the forum, hope you find it informative, useful and most of all fun!!
(oh yeah - only real way of curing it is to fit a new/replacement pot joint.)
oh, and Chocadoobee you don’t need to do anything with the hub nut to get the pot joint off.
Drain the oil. Split the top and trackrod end ball joints, and support the hub so you don’t damage the brake pipes. Use a lever to carefully pry the pot joint off the output shaft spline, making sure you don’t damage the diff casing. It should come off pretty easily, you just have to overcome the resistance of the spring clip.
Then use a long punch to pop the pot joint off the driveshaft, doesn’t matter if you damage the boot on the one you’re taking off.
Some people find it easier to put the joint in the gearbox then put the driveshaft into the joint - I prefer this method, less fiddly than putting the pot joint on the driveshaft then trying to get it onto the box.
Put the joint on, then connect up the ball joints again. Fill with oil to the required level and you’re away!!!
Oh - and please make sure you work safe, use axle stands to support the car, gloves while handling oily components, and watch your eyes and face while working underneath the car - oil is nasty stuff.
You might as well change the pot joint seal while it’s off as well, and lightly grease the outside of the new joint when fitting it to protect the seal lip. A bit of copper on the various splines won’t hurt either to make it easier to get off again if you need to.
Thanks for all the input on this problem that was driving me mad !
When I got the pot joint off it was completely free of grease, just a bit of oil inside, and surprise, surprise, a faulty cap inside which makes a nice clicking sound.
Job is now done, no oil dripping yet !
Ended up having to cut the track rod end off and drill out the steering arm. as the splitter didn’t work.(which took all day and a lot of patience !)
Thanks again for your help. and it’s good to learn new things, but I don’t want to do it too often.
hi chocadoobee welcome to the forum