# 97 Altima axle leak



## Caddytech (Mar 19, 2012)

hi guys, i need some info on my 97 altima gxe manual transmission. i bought it a few weeks ago, saw a little oil leaking under the transmission, and thought "its probably just the axle seal-easy fix!" so i replaced the seal with an aftermarket part from autozone, topped off the trans and drove it home. woke up the next morning to a small puddle of 80w-90 in my driveway. i thought maybe there was an issue with the aftermarket part so i went to the nearest nissan dealer and bought an oem seal. i took the axle out and checked the sealing surface on the tri-pot, it is smooth as a baby's bottom and the seal fit nice and snug around it. so i stuck it back in the transmission and pushed up on the tri-pot and sure enough, it had a bit of movement and when i held it all the way up, the oil would drip out past the seal. so i took out the axle and the seal and stuck a breaker bar in the differential to see what was moving and it looks like the entire thing-diff, bearing, and even the bearing race is moving together. i am just wondering if any guys have seen this issue before because it is leaking pretty bad and i need to fix it. i don't wanna spend the $600 to replace the whole transmission and i checked and i should be able to get whatever parts i need for it. it seems to me that the transmission case must be worn or damaged if the bearing race is moving, but i have never seen something like that happen without first destroying the bearing itself. any info would be greatly appreciated so i have a better understanding before i tear into this thing


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Sounds like the carrier bearing are bad on the diff.


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