I have a 1995 Civic EX with a D16Z6 engine, a manual transmission, and about 245,000 miles on it. I recently replaced the oil pan gasket and both axles. This forum was quite helpful in doing those jobs. Thanks for all the howto posts people have posted!

I have a leak with oil showing up mainly between the transmission and the oil pan. When I initially torqued down the oil pan bolts, I forgot to put on the flywheel cover. Since I had to take off two of the nuts to put that on, I'm wondering if I may have messed up the gasket.

Another possibility is that the left axle is not quite seated all the way in. I can just see a little space between the big part of the axle and the transmission. This is a picture of it:



Lastly, I'm wondering if it could be the rear main seal. However, if that was it, I would think I'd see oil coming out the little hole between the flywheel cover and the transmission, which I am not.

So, is it probably the oil pan gasket, the axle leaking transmission fluid because it is not seated all the way in, the rear main seal, or something else? If the axle is not seated all the way, any suggestions on getting it all the way in?

Thanks!

 

Cant tell for sure, but that looks like MTF leaking and not engine oil. It also appears as though the axle is not seated completely, but the angle of the picture could be fooling the eyes. In the center of the picture, center of the axle, see that dark spot, that really looks a drip forming, so I would say axle not seated and/or axle seal damaged.

 

The axle itself doesn't hold fluid in - there's an axle seal there that does most of the "keep the fluid in" work. Remove the axle and replace that seal.

 

So, I got a new seal and planned on putting it in. I had a good look at the seal after taking the axle out. The new seal I got wasn't quite the same as the old one, and I thought the old one would make a better seal. I looked it over carefully, and it looked like it was in good shape. I couldn't find any cracks or tears. So, I decided not to replace it.

I could not get the axle to go in any further than it previously was in, but I decided I don't think the leak was from the transmission, but from the oil pan gasket instead.

I took the oil pan back off last night, and it had definitely been leaking. I don't know what I did wrong when installing it. I also realized that the two nuts that hold on the flywheel cover cannot be torqued down with the rest because the cover blocks two of the other nuts. So, those other two have to be torqued first.

I put RTV on both sides of the whole gasket this time instead of just at the corners. I wouldn't say I'm happy with how it ended up, but it didn't seem to have leaked much or at all on the way in to work this morning.

 

A slight gap btw/ the tranny casing and inner joint of the axle is
typical. On my D16Y7, a 12in prybar could easily be inserted but
an 18in prybar was too big. According to the service manny, the
gap is approx 3-3.5mm.

 

You're not gonna catch it by eye BELIEVE ME, I've been down that route. If these are Honda seals than you should be fine. If they aren't than I suggest you get the Honda axle seals. Save yourself the headache bud.

 

^^^^What he said.

You won't be able to see the spring has lost elasticity just by eye balling it. Nor will you be able to tell the rubber has changed it's flexibility unless it's drastically harder just by eyeballing it.

Those seals when worn look pretty much like the new seals. You need to swap that seal, the you'll have fixed the axle leak.