Left Transaxle Shaft Seal

I recently changed the passenger side transaxle shaft seal on my 97
Dodge Stratus (183,000 miles). That was easy and went fine. However, I
still have a small leak from the driver's side shaft seal.

My first big mistake was not buying the shop manuals when the car was
new. Now at 183,000 miles I can't justify the $100 for the manuals. I
have a Haynes manual and since it is so bad, I am forced to ask the
question here.

The Haynes manual provides instructions for changing the right side
shaft seal, but states that the left side requires removing the
differential bearing retainer and therefore should not be attempted at
home.

Is this really something that is too difficult to do? I've done a lot
of work on cars, including pulling and changing engines and
transmissions. However, without any actual information on how to do
this, I hesitate to just tear into this.

Has anybody accomplished this on their own? I would think it is doable,
but not sure.

Thanks,

Doug

Doug Samuel wrote:
> I recently changed the passenger side transaxle shaft seal on my 97
> Dodge Stratus (183,000 miles). That was easy and went fine. However, I
> still have a small leak from the driver's side shaft seal.
>
> My first big mistake was not buying the shop manuals when the car was
> new. Now at 183,000 miles I can't justify the $100 for the manuals. I
> have a Haynes manual and since it is so bad, I am forced to ask the
> question here.
>
> The Haynes manual provides instructions for changing the right side
> shaft seal, but states that the left side requires removing the
> differential bearing retainer and therefore should not be attempted at
> home.
>
> Is this really something that is too difficult to do? I've done a lot
> of work on cars, including pulling and changing engines and
> transmissions. However, without any actual information on how to do
> this, I hesitate to just tear into this.
>
> Has anybody accomplished this on their own? I would think it is doable,
> but not sure.

Most likely someone will post a helpful response, but FYI, perhaps you
can justify a $25 1-year subscription to the alldata info. on your
Stratus: www.alldata.com. There is much of the information taken 100%
right out of the FSM with that subscription. I feel sure they would
have that procedure including any instructions and diagrams/sketches.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

It's harder than the other side, but can be done with pulling the retainer.

Use a long screw into the seal, then use a pair of end cutting pliers to pop the
seal out. An option is a hooked seal puller. Remove the seal. Find a piece of
wood, round, similar in size to the seal - I got mine from those wood block toys
from the kids toybox - hey, they owed me after all the tools they lost over
years, ya know. Use the wood as a driver tool to seat the new seal, reassemble
the rest. I've done it on several K cars and minivans over the years.

> Has anybody accomplished this on their own? I would think it is doable,
> but not sure.

After much cogitation, says...
>
> Most likely someone will post a helpful response, but FYI, perhaps you
> can justify a $25 1-year subscription to the alldata info. on your
> Stratus: www.alldata.com. There is much of the information taken 100%
> right out of the FSM with that subscription. I feel sure they would
> have that procedure including any instructions and diagrams/sketches.
>
> Bill Putney
> (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
> adddress with the letter 'x')
>
>
Thanks Bill. I already subscribe to Alldata for both the Stratus and my
wife's Concorde. However, but I cannot find anything about the output
shaft seal. I am surprised since I always seem to find what I need
there. I'll have to try some more.

Thanks again.

Doug

After much cogitation, says...
> It's harder than the other side, but can be done with pulling the retainer.
>
> Use a long screw into the seal, then use a pair of end cutting pliers to pop the
> seal out. An option is a hooked seal puller. Remove the seal. Find a piece of
> wood, round, similar in size to the seal - I got mine from those wood block toys
> from the kids toybox - hey, they owed me after all the tools they lost over
> years, ya know. Use the wood as a driver tool to seat the new seal, reassemble
> the rest. I've done it on several K cars and minivans over the years.
>
> > Has anybody accomplished this on their own? I would think it is doable,
> > but not sure.
>
>
>

Thanks for the info. Do you remember if the seal is the same as the
right side? I would assume it is. I already have one of those on hand.

Thanks again.

Doug

Doug Samuel wrote:

> After much cogitation, says...
>
>>Most likely someone will post a helpful response, but FYI, perhaps you
>>can justify a $25 1-year subscription to the alldata info. on your
>>Stratus: www.alldata.com. There is much of the information taken 100%
>>right out of the FSM with that subscription. I feel sure they would
>>have that procedure including any instructions and diagrams/sketches.
>>
>>Bill Putney
>>(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
>>adddress with the letter 'x')
>>
>>
>
> Thanks Bill. I already subscribe to Alldata for both the Stratus and my
> wife's Concorde. However, but I cannot find anything about the output
> shaft seal. I am surprised since I always seem to find what I need
> there. I'll have to try some more.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Doug


You're welcome. Yeah - the vehicle-specific information on AllData is
not very well organized and can be very difficult to find (though
sometimes you can stumble upon it with a little persistence - of course
assuming it is there - which you don't know for sure until/unless you do
find it). They need to fix that (but probably won't due to MBA studies
showing that any resulting increase in sales won't offset the costs of
doing so - customers are a bunch of crybabies anyway). 8^)

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

Same seal. Dirt cheap at transmission wholesale shops ($2.00)

Go to a retailer and they want upwards to $15 for the same seal in the same box!

After much cogitation, says...
> Same seal. Dirt cheap at transmission wholesale shops ($2.00)
>
> Go to a retailer and they want upwards to $15 for the same seal in the same box!
>
>
>

Thanks. Fortunately, when I first bought the seal from the local parts
store, I didn't think the guy really knew what he was doing. I paid $7
for it. So before starting the job I went to the Chrysler dealer and
picked another one up for $6. Turns out they are identical, so I have
the seal already. Didn't beat your price though

Doug