Half axle partial removal from gearbox side only

[wwdwgs]

Hello, everyone.
As I age, I tent to forget things. so...
Is there a way to remove half axle only from the gearbox side without touching the hub side?
The reason I ask is that I have, what looks like, a leaking seal where flange shaft "engages" a gearbox.
If I'm not mistaken, once the socket head screws are undone on CV joint side, I could "push" half axle outward and away to access flanges shaft, unscrew it and pull out. I'm I correct?

The seal in question is marked as #15, flange shaft - # 11.

[Peter Graham]

Yes: pull the parking brake, undo the CVJ bolts, remove the half-shaft from the drive flange. I am unsure what needs to happen to remove the drive flange in order to replace the seal (901 experience only) but #12 looks to be key...

Peter

[944 S2]

I just did both seals on my S2. Word of caution on the driver side. The seal does not have a natural setting position. In other words it can be pushed in too far. Hopefully my picture can show what I’m talking about. Just be sure not to press the new on in too far.

[wwdwgs]

944 S2,,
Thank you for the pictures and your advice.
Let me ask you a question - what is that white/yellowish gear? Is that the "sensor" for "up" arrow on a tachometer (to upshift)?

[v2rocket_aka944]

^^ that is the drive gear for the speedometer pickup sensor on the late model transaxles.

the upshift arrow on the gauges is a light lit by a signal from the DME/speedometer, taking into account fuel injector pulse width and speed to figure engine load/speed to suggest upshifting for fuel economy.

[wwdwgs]

I see. I thought that all 944 family have front axle speedometers.

[944 S2]

Originally Posted by wwdwgs

944 S2,,
Thank you for the pictures and your advice.
Let me ask you a question - what is that white/yellowish gear? Is that the "sensor" for "up" arrow on a tachometer (to upshift)?

Speedometer gear. I needed to replace mine because I’m pretty sure I screwed it up a bit when I pride the seal out with a screw driver! I have one extra Porsche seal if you’re interested. New in box.

[944 S2]

Great video on trans oil replacement and seal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmAUoKmbdtM

[wwdwgs]

Thanks for the video.

[Monkey Wrench]

often those seals have an ID number so you can shop for the seal number. just like with bearings.

in some cases there is a little seal that runs on a mating surface , in some cases you can intentionally shift it a little so it runs in a fresh spot. I'm not familiar with this exact application so this isn't specific info. try not to scratch this surface the actual seal runs on.. it'll chew the rubber.

when you look at those seals look very close , often there are tiny ribs set at an angle, think which way it turns, the ribs send the oil back in, so it can't leak, It's easy to get them backwards if you don't note that small detail. parts can get mixed up , as an example , left and right could be different, but look the same at first glance.

Ill often drill a tiny hole and set a screw in to pull on. there is usually a bit of metal embedded in the rubber , in the edge. there is a special tool looks like a little woodscrew or a cork screw with a handle... a seal puller.

sometimes they are felt seals. often you will see them in older cars a slidehammer works, or a hunk of chain and a weight is a poor man's slidehammer. I made a slidehammer and made a little end that can hold a small woodscrew, handy for that. if you want the bearing number , maybe don't drill where the number is.

once you pull the seal you'll never use that again so don't worry about drilling a little tiny hole in the edge to start a small woodscrew in. most important thing is dont use a screwdriver and scratch where the seal seals, the rubber will get eaten up by a scratch.

18" of common swingset chain , or similar, even a hunk of wire.. and a weight can work ok if you don't have a slide hammer there.

often Ill use a big socket as a pusher tool to get them in square and not cocked. If I want to be fussy I can make my own from plastic on the lathe.. like for example to recess them all around the edge by 1 mm it should sit square otherwise the hole is effectively, egg shaped.

[wwdwgs]

I've decided to replace these seals on both sides.

[Monkey Wrench]

check with the others with more experience on this but I seem to recall a thing with the parts being assembled correctly with regards to balance. somewhere I saw a video by a German guy who pointed this out more clearly, I think it was skipped in the video.

what I normally do is make two centerpunch marks either side of stuff , that's just so that even if parts are washed and cleaned I wont loose the marks and Ill check them on reassembly to make sure its in the same relationship.

the reason I put two marks is so it isn't confused with a dent or scratch its intentional, you can put 3 on one side to differentiate.

likely if it's balanced and you changed that you may not notice but if it is balanced I'd try to keep the balance and so put them back in the same holes. How much this matters, Im not sure but its not harder to keep things in the same relationship so I'd do that step.

the video I saw went a but further and he disassembled the driveshafts and CV joints, that may be where the importance of keeping the balance lies. It's no harder to do that correctly or to maintain relationship anyway.
if I recall correctly the orientation of the left side and the right side might matter to some extent, to maintain the balance.. in a perfect world , maybe in a race application you can have them balanced accurately. better balance means less vibration especially at higher speeds.

I can't quantify how important balance is here, others here will know. I guess thinking about that more thoroughly , most cars are basically only one wheel drive because of the differential, so the other wheel can't possibly stay in the same relationship as the other, and LSD means movement too.. so with that in mind, it may be true that the balance may only be important if you disassemble the driveshaft itself.

i think the bit that stuck in my mind was that the axle shafts can loose their proper relationship and this is a very common mistake.. that relationship might only be within the axle shaft and not relating to how it's mounted ..

if you have time to search there is a great video out there on you tube that shows a bit more detail , done by a German guy that really knew this stuff well. it was probably about he axle shaft cleaning and re greasing, and not about that seal.

a transaxle and a rear end are a bit different, but in a rear end the axle and the crown gear stay together so perhaps they can be balanced together , as well as separately..

my take is you wont se it at city speeds at all at 140 MPH , maybe?

in my volvo there is a pin that threads into the rotor, its between the wheel studs. Ill often just chuck the thing out but on the stock wheels there is a corresponding hole. it maybe that they balanced the wheels on the car?

the rotor could be balanced along with a rim and tire, each part has it's own balance so if you balance parts separately and then bolt them together it can in some cases be beneficial to balance them together again as a unit .

If you do things like that they the relationship becomes important, otherwise you've changed relationships and lost that second balance process.


often factories will have established standards, they decide what matters and where the thresholds are, what is acceptable, those are quality control standards.. often work can be done to go beyond the factory balance and the better something is balanced the better it will perform, it will reduce wear and vibration, of course there is a point of diminishing return which is why there are tolerance standards..

If you increase those tolerances you can benefit, but at some point there is not enough return or difference for it to be noticeable.

I often don't feel the guys in tire shops care much and often wish they would take a little more time to get tires balanced as best they are able, the way most of those guys work is fast,

guys that work in many tire shops are often a bunch of knuckle dragging guys that don't really give a hoot.. some do fancy cars or race tires, they probably care a lot more.

maybe the thing to do is to slip the tire guy a 20 and say I just want you to take a little extra time, just a couple extra minutes to do the best balance job you can, as it matters to me, If he just spends 5 mins on balancing a tire rather than 30 seconds, it does matter.

[wwdwgs]

MW,
good point about marking the parts. I did mark half axle when I was servicing CV joint.
Balancing... I don't know if there are shops in my area, which can balance wheels while they are mounted on the car.
I was even entertaining an idea to buy a tire changer and a balancer (which must be modified) and do tires myself, as I have 3 sets of them. The shop I use for balancing and alignment is a good one - they care about their work. Once they even checked my tires just to make sure they were balanced properly (by others) and still have to re-balance one wheel.
Regarding the gear box - I "swept" through the auto parts stores in my area in hopes to find a proper gear oil (gl-4). None of the stores carry it. Most are GL-5 or "better". Napa has GL-4 oil, but at $27 per quart. Too much. The existing gear oil is clean, but I have to drain it in order to replace the seals. Had to order the gear oil online.
Regarding the videos on the internet you mentioned - I think you're talking about a German guy named Jurgen. He usually wears a red overall and talks like a German after an Oktoberfest.