Hi Guys, I have had the golf (1987 8V) on axle stands for a few weeks now while I have been renewing parts. I have come to put the wishbones and suspension back on and noticed a patch of oil on the floor. The car has never leaked any oil in 2 years of owning it. It appears to be coming from the driver’s side inner drive shaft boot. I have had a read about replacing drive shafts and there is no mention of expecting to see oil. Like I said it has been stood for a while with the wheel housing supported so there was no strain on the inner CV joints, the only thing I have done of late is start it at weekend. Have I had a shocker and caused some damage? I have taken some pics and a video, although in the video not a lot of oil can be seen as I keep pulling the boot back in disbelief!!! http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad192/PJChaplow/P1010090.jpg http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad192/PJChaplow/?action=view¤t=P1010094.flv Oh and there seems some play in the drive shaft as well as the first thing I did was push the wheel housing back towards the engine, and I felt maybe 5mm of movement. Appreciate your help on this one.
There is a seal in the centre of the flange (you`d have to take the driveshaft off to see it), that can leak gearbox oil into the inner CV boot. It can be escaping from the boot in such small amounts that you probably wouldn`t notice, but now that it`s been stood for a while, you can see it. The main problem is, that it can wash out the CV grease with it over time, causing excessive wear of the CV. Best to whip off the driveshaft, and have a look at the condition of the seal, and see how much grease is left in the joint/boot, along with how much play there is in the CV.
I did a bit of research on here before posting. And saw that people had mentioned flanges. Do you know much about changing them STUMC? I am in unchartered water. With the amount of oil that has been coming out, whatever has triggered it has just happened. I don’t think I will have any oil left in my gearbox by the end of the week.
The seal is easy to change; take the inner CV off and clear away the grease, you'll see a black circular cover at the middle of the flange about the size of a 2P. Poke a screwdriver through it and lever it out, then carefully push the new one in! Have a look here, excellent 020 gearbox info source!
Cheers for that EZ. Will I need to drain the gearbox before doing all this? and where will I be able to get the spined tool from to remove the drive shaft? Is it a NIX bit or a volkswagen specialised tool?
XZN aka Triplesquare, not a special VW bit, 12mm I think. Plenty on eBay. The annoying bit is getting the tool onto the bolts since there's not much room to play with in there, GSF sell a 400ish mm long version of the spline tool, I usually use about three extensions in series, it gets the job done well enough. You probably should drain at least some of the oil, if you look at where the filler hole is in relation to the center of the flange you'll get an idea of where the oil level is. You'll need to lock the flange or it'll turn when you try to undo the bolts, putting it in gear and getting a helper to put their foot on the brake works.
As for the driveshaft you shouldn't feel any play in the wheel with all the suspension assembled, however the driveshaft should float a little along its axis, not up and down or rotationally though, although natural wear will give you a little of that.
cheers for advice love this site you guys been there and done it lol was just about to ask about leek mine doing the same ,