Alpha6-27Tango(jeff)

I ended that with a question mark because I'm not sure. Long story short, took the car in to have the ATF fluid and filter changed (by a reputable tech) and the tech said:

"The differential cover is loose & leaking, and I suspect the front-right transmissions bearing is bad, but I won't know until I get it opened up".

Which is understandable, troubleshooting bad bearings is next to impossible without visually seeing them. My question to the forum is:

1) Has anyone attempted to change the bearing(s) on their 5-speed Tip?

2) Can you get the right differential cover off without pulling the transmission?

I trust my tech, he's a good guy but I really don't want to put $1500+ into a Tiptronic with 120,000 miles on it. He said most of the cost is in the labor just to get the transmission out of the car.

Thoughts?

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Highly unlikely…it's most likely a seal leaking…the seal can be replaced without pulling the transmission. Find another mechanic.

Alpha6-27Tango(jeff)

Thanks... I spoke with him against today, and we discussed pulling the transmission versus checking things out without pulling it. He said he leans towards pulling the entire transmission and doing a "reseal" of all the output shaft seals. Which honestly isn't a bad idea while you're in there, but again I told him I'm not super interested in putting $1500+ into a transmission that may need to be replaced in the next 30-40K.

We left off with him doing some additional inspection to see if he's comfortable taking the differential cover off without pulling the entire tranny since I'm only interested in addressing the known issue.

We'll see what he finds...

Kris Hansen

NOOO!!! That right front seal is differential ONLY. It's an easy fix. The LEFT front seal is transmission, but both can be done with the trans safely IN THE CAR.

Also, you do NOT remove the diff cover to change the seal. You simply remove the flange, and change the seal from the outside. It's very easy.

50rossi

Anyone know the torque spec for the diff flange center bolt #5 in the above picture?

This is for a 1998 2.4 Tip FWD.

georgeb944

23 Nm.

50rossi

Thank you so much. I've been searching everywhere for this. Thanks.

Matthewest91

I just rebuilt the 5hp19 fla and I agree to it just being a seal and that it can be done without dropping the transmission… sounds like that mechanic is trying to up sell a job