resealing the middle drive gear output shaft need seals

[dz]

Well, I found my oil leak. It's leaking right at the boot where the drive shaft and u-joint meet. I need to reseal the output shaft. I was looking at the parts diagram for the middle drive gear and I can't seem to find which seals I need. I see the crush washer and spacer, do they consider that the shaft gasket?

[dingy]

You have 2 potential leak paths at the middle drive gear.

 

1st attached picture shows the block without the gear & housing in place. 2nd shows case split with opening at the lower right. Smooth bore into the case.

 

3rd picture shows the outer housing & o-ring of the middle drive. The outer housing is held stationary by 3 bolts and is sealed by the o-ring. 4th picture shows a rear view of the housing assembly. Just forward of the universal joint is the crush washer that seals the rotating gear shaft to the housing.

 

If you have to pull the middle drive cover out, there will be 1 or more sets of shims between rear of case & housing. These shims will be in 2 pieces per set. If there are more than 1 set of shims in there, they can be different thicknesses, so they must be replaced as a matched pair. You don't want both thick ones on top and both thin ones on the bottom, this would cause gear mating problem.

 

Gary

[dz]

Dingy,

Thanks for the awesome photos. So the crush em up washer is what actually seals the shaft? I figure if I already have it apart, I might as well do both. I will have to dig into it further to see which piece is actually leaking. I presume the swing arm has to come out to do this job? Thanks.

[bongobobny]

Yes your swing arm will have to come out. Perfect time to inspect and grease your bushings as well! You might want to consider replacing the ball bearings as well as they are not that expensive and are quite old at this point. Now to replace all the bushings on the shock linkage on the other hand will bet rather expensive to the tune of about $200 or more. Don't ask how I know this! Speaking of those bushings, you may want to consider drilling and tapping for some zerx fittings so you can periodically grease them...