Input shaft seal leak

[cschuster]

I did a 01E rebuild last week, drove the car maybe 20 miles around town, buttery shifts, and everything was great. Checked for, but didn't find any signs of leaks the next morning.

After driving 350ish miles nonstop, I stopped for gas. Got out of the car and noticed the smell of gear oil. Looked under and saw this. It's coming from the bell housing.




It didn't seem to be dripping very fast and I had to get home. Today I topped the fluid off with .6 liters after driving a total of 550ish miles.

The leak is definitely coming from the input shaft. The seal was replaced and seated 4.5mm in, according to factory spec. The input shaft was very clean, but we made a few marks on the housing surface while getting the old seal out. After some scotch brite and emery, the marks were smooth to the touch.

What are my options here? Should I try again with a new seal? If the housing surface is damaged, what is the best way to repair it?



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[SJorge3442]

Oh man. Talk about bad luck. There's a few different types of seals. I know people talk about it in regards to the crank seal. Maybe the seal isn't perfectly straight. It really sucks to have to drop the trans again, but I bet you can do it in a third of the time.

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[Antfarm85]

Yes get a new seal and is still it straight you might want to put a little CV gasket maker on lips of ring ,seal if your gorging is severe but it seems like some Schaff covers have a lip and some don't so check if yours has a lip and actually make sure it's transmission fluid and not brake fluid because your slave cylinder could be leaking and that would cause a big problem so check that out too

[ADCS]

Did you use a genuine Audi seal?

[cschuster]

Yes get a new seal and is still it straight you might want to put a little CV gasket maker on lips of ring ,seal if your gorging is severe but it seems like some Schaff covers have a lip and some don't so check if yours has a lip and actually make sure it's transmission fluid and not brake fluid because your slave cylinder could be leaking and that would cause a big problem so check that out too

It's 100% gear oil. Pretty sure its an OEM seal. I used a seal driver too and checked depth at 3 points. Who knows, the trans has got to come back out now no matter what.


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[diagnosticator]

When you install a new oil seal, do not place the seal in the same position as the old seal. Place the new seal a little less deeply or a little more deep than the old seal, to avoid running the new seal lip in the wear grove in the shaft made by the old seal/s. Seal the OD of the new seal with a thin film of ATV applied before installing the new seal.

[cschuster]

When you install a new oil seal, do not place the seal in the same position as the old seal. Place the new seal a little less deeply or a little more deep than the old seal, to avoid running the new seal lip in the wear grove in the shaft made by the old seal/s. Seal the OD of the new seal with a thin film of ATV applied before installing the new seal.

I got the seal from AA with OEM parts, so it is OEM as well. I did install it a few mm back. The new factory spec is 3.something mm, and the repair spec is 4.5mm. Maybe it moved or something when the input shaft was put back in, or the guide sleeve was bolted on. Thanks for the RTV tip.

[cschuster]

Welp, may have to source this one to the shop. I just don't have the time to pull the trans all over again. One benefit of this is that they will warranty their labor, so I'll only pay for parts if it still leaks after that. I've been topping it off with Mobil1 75W-90, which is a GL-5 fluid. That's all I can find locally. It's not ideal, but better than no fluid at all. I'll be ordering more Sintofluid from AA today or tomorrow.

[cschuster]

Shop said that messing these up is pretty easy to do. Changing the seal without the input shaft installed (as we did) can cause part of the lip to roll over when guiding the input shaft back though. They always have 2 new seals on hand in case it gets messed up when installing. The JHM video briefly went over this, but I didn't think it was a big deal. This may have been what happened. It makes sense that if part of the inner lip is not sealed, gear oil would run down the shaft, past the seal, into the bell housing, then out the bottom holes.

I read a few threads where people still had input shaft leaks after replacing this seal 3-4 times. I don't have time for that s***, so I'm going to (gasp) pay the shop $500 and not worry about it ever again. I've got the Sintofluid ordered, and will be picking up 2 seals from the dealer on Monday.

Part number for a new input shaft seal is 012311113B.