Rear end Leaking...

[Jetlaag]

I have found a leak that appears to coming from both half shaft seals.

Has anyone else had this?

How hard is this to fix as I am not that familiar with BMW rear ends?

I bought the Haynes manual but it is not that great in detail. I have not seen the Chilton book, maybe that would be better.

Any other ideas short of driving it to the BMW dealership??

Thanks,
Jetlaag

[Jetlaag]

Wow, 56 some odd views on this post and nobody has a rear end that is leaking.... must be just mine.

Oh well, if I get any info on this I will pass it along.

Jack

[DC COBRA]

Jetlaag
I thought my halfshaft seals was leaking also, turned out to be the axle boots themselves. It seems the oil separated from the grease inside the boot, running down the flange only after the car set for a couple of dats with no activity. As soon as I get some run in time, I will pull them and have them rebooted or possibly replace the whole assembly. My car is still new, I'm sure there will be some more "warranty" issues to take care off.

DON

[Jetlaag]

Hi Don.

Well my leak is the seals themselves as you can see in my gallery photos.

I just jumped into the project tonight and will say that I am having a few problems.

Like the Haynes repair book says to drain the gear oil. Sure, but it does not tell me what size hex key to use. So I go to Sears Hardware and find a 17mm that looks good and get home to find out that its to big. On my return trip to Sears I phoned the BMW dealership to find out the correct size (I know, should have done that the first time) and found out that it is a 14mm hex key. Low and behold Sears hex key stop at 12mm. They have a 17mm but none in between. I called with no luck at Ace, Pep Boys, Napa and finally the 2nd Napa store I called had one in stock. 75 miles on my car (not the cobra) driving around trying to find one.

I also needed some Torx sockets to remove the drive axles and when I started this project I found out that someone previous to me has stripped the bolts!! On one side I got 4 out of 6 removed and I am going to try the other two again in the morning.

Anyone know how to get stripped Torx bolts out??

It's also a pretty tight fit under the car as I do not have a lift and it looks like I may have to take the sway bar out also?? Don't know yet.

Anyway, I am a fairly handy guy but with no literature on how to fix our specific cars it looks like a bit of trial and error.

Good luck with yours Don,

Jack

[Jetlaag]

P.S. Don.

I noticed your car on stands in your garage, nice looking car by the way.

My question is while your car is on the stands with your front wheels off the groud, are your front springs tight or are you able to move them around. Meaning are they touching the top spring fitting??
Mine are not and I am able to pick them up and move and an inch or so.
The springs are fully extended and loose and I don't know if this is a good thing or not??

Doesn't seem to be to me...

Seems to me that on a tight turn and with enough torque coming out of a turn to lift the inside tire off the ground, the spring would be loose for a second and may not not reseat correctly...

Anyone???

Jack

[xlr8or]

Not trying to stir the pot but since you have posted here and not gotten any factory response have you called them for help? Your car can't be that old.

[DC COBRA]

JetLaag
My car setting on the stands, springs are fairly tight. On other BDR cars that I have seen, they had to raise the spring height considerably to get the neede height clearance on the front. In my case with the aluminum block, so far hadn't had to raise anything, possibly may lower just a little. This hopefully will make for a smoother and better handling ride wth the extra wieght of a cast iron block gone. As for your stripped bolts, try the 6 inch pair of vise grips, works fairly good. I might have some issues later with my axles judging on what 600 plus horsepower will do them, so that is why I'm going to wait a little before fixing them. I have got a fix in mind but may not need them. Reg is interested, maybe something he can offer as an upgrade.

xlr8or
Your not stirring the pot as far as I'm concerned, lots of people are leary of new animals, BDR being fairly new to the scene , well raises lot of interest on support issues. My car is completed, hadn't got to drive yet, header issue, found some things a long the way that needed addressing, so far everything has been corrected. Ordered year ago on March 24. recieved car November 11. Ordered motor November 20, Kieth Craft said would be 8 weeks, exactly 8 weeks to the day as promised got motor. Have taken time thus far to make this project nice,custom headers, running seat belts thru rear firewall, litttle stuff like that takes a lot of time. When car is finished will have around $55000 in it, long ways from $25900 that it started out with before options. Started to go with SPF, would have cost about $12000 to 14000 more due to the price difference of roller packages. So yes i might get frustrated sometimes because of the time frame, but we are sooo!!! close now. I have met Reg, Frank, Reg's wife and daughter, super nice people, actually visited their place in Florida. Would I do it again? YES

DON

[Jetlaag]

Good question xlr8or,

I don't think your stirring the pot either. I just feel that my situation is a little different in that I did not order a car to be built just for me. I am in other words the 2nd owner of the car as I bought Frank Dodd's personal car with 416 miles on it. I have met, called and e-mailed Frank and Reg many times and do get responses from them.

I sometimes feel like however, that I don't want to bother them all the time as I am not really an "ordering customer". I bought the car sight unseen on e-bay for a great price. I therefore did not go through the normal ordering, troubleshooting, warranty issues that others do. My car is a couple of years old when I bought it and the only reason I bring up some of these issues here is that I don't know if others are having the same problems as I am and I always feel that we learn from others experiences and mistakes.

I don't know if this is the reason that I do not get any manufacturer response to my questions or not.

So far I love my BDR and hope to have for a long time. Spring is finally here and up here in Chicago it has been to cold to go into the garage during winter, so now I am outside and ready to fix a few of the problems I have.

Happy trails,
Jack

[TerribleTed13]

Hi guys,
For the large allen wrench, Take a bolt and 2 nuts, tighten/lock the 2 nuts at one end. Makes a cheap tool but it works! On the damaged bolts, I used a chizzel to knock them counter-clockwize to break them loose. Only BMW has those special bolts. I asked for a 1995 318i axle to flange bolt. Under $20.00 for all 6. Use red Locktight for the installation and tighten to 15-20 ft. #s. The front springs are tight when the car is raised up. On a friends car they are very loose when the car is raised up, about 3 inches of movement. Make sure they seated proprely when the car is lowered. I thought this could be a problem if the front end gets airborn and the spring moves from its seat. Taller springs with a lower rate maybe the fix. My friend didnt want to pursue the issue. Hope this helps.

[Jetlaag]

Don,

That is an awsome engine you are putting in. The AFR's look great!. Thinking of putting some of those on myself. Are you going with the "M" series upgrade for you cv joints??

I'll try the vise grips also. thx.

Good luck and have fun with all that HP.

Jack

[Jetlaag]

TerribleTed13,

Thanks for the info. I was talking to someone yesterday about making the improvised tool that you are talking about. However I did find one yesterday and bought it for $7. The chisel idea is great also and may resort to it if all else fails.

As far as the springs go I thought that I was talking with somebody a while ago about this problem and he said that there might be a way to use a strap of some sort to hold the spring in place if the front end was to rise that high.??

Also, what reference material are you using for the bolt torque??
The Haynes book say the Driveaxle to flange bolts should be 48#'s for M8 bolts and 74#'s for M10 bolts w/locking teeth and 61#'s without locking teeth. I personally don't know which of these bolts I have or will be using.

Thx again,
Jack

[DC COBRA]

JetLaag
I did not opt for the M3 upgrade, two reasons, did not like running 17 inch wheel stuff, and then I'm kind of a rebel, try to break the axles with lots of horsepower, then when they do , put some in that won't break. No I have talked to Reg, we seem to think there will be no problems on the street, might have one if I was to use some slicks on the car. Sort of going to do some testing for the BDR gang and customers.

[TerribleTed13]

Jack,
I'm not useing any type of reference book. Just tightend them by feel. With the locktight I've had no problems.

[Jetlaag]

DC Cobra,

I like it. You are a rebel. Drive it till it breaks. With over 600 HP shouldn't be to hard... Hope nothing else breaks though. And when your out on the streets getting it home is not that easy. I had to flatbed mine home already and with the car as low as it is, we had to use a lot boards to get the angles right so we wouldnt scrape the car getting it on and off the truck. I also got a lot of razzing from my "chevy" neighbors.


Happy motoring,
Jack

[DC COBRA]

Jack
I live in the country, if she breaks owell, got alot of friends who will assist. As far as razzing goes, paybacks can be extreme HELL

[Jetlaag]

Don't you know it!!!!

Well, off to the garage to see if I can get those bolts out...

[Jetlaag]

Well, two of the bolts have been a real pain. I gave in and called Reg and asked his advise on getting these out. He told me that when they replace the driveaxle oil seals that they don't even take out the bolts I am trying to take out. (drivaxle to flange)

Regs' advise:
1. Unbolt the the bottom shock bolt. ( I put a jack under the shock mount and took out the bolt and released the spring tension)

2. Unbolt the upper and lower control arms. (note & mark the bottom control arm bolt as this sets up your alignment)

3. Use a pry bar to release the the Flange from the diff. and then gently pull and swivel the entire wheel assembly out from the car and this will pull the driveaxle out of the diff. I then wired the drivaxle up out and out of the way. ( I had a friend help pull while I wired)

4. Pry out the old oil seal and snap ring and replace. (the new oil seal looked a little different from the old one. The BMW parts guys told me that they have been improved. It had a extra rubber seal on the outside of the seal unit.)

5. Reassemble in reverse.

I am waiting for a few bolts from BMW today to finish. However, the new seals are in place I am looking forward to taking the car for spin tonight. With no leaks, hopefully!!


Just some FYI in case anyone else has this problem...

Take care and happy cruising.

Jack

[Trueoo7]

Jetlaag
Yes some of us are watching and hopefully will never need to use it as you have. How many miles did you say you had on the car before it went and did you drive it hard prior to them leaking?
Good luck
Trueoo7

[Jetlaag]

Trueoo7,

As I stated before, I bought the car with 416 miles on it and when I got it to my house it was already leaking a little bit. You know it was Frank Dodd's car before and maybe he let a bunch of people interested in BDR's test drive it. I don't know the history of the 416 miles, however, I myself have not driven the car that hard at all.

You know when it get's right down to it, it's really not that hard to replace the seals once you do it. The first side of the rear end took me 2 hours... the other side took me about a 45 minutes. It was working with all those bolts that I didn't need to take out that wasted a lot of time... but it was fun doing it and was a learning experience also...

If you should run into this problem let me know and I would be happy to answer any other questions..

By the way, I did not get the car on the road today as I couldn't find any Redline gear oil for the rear end today, will be here tomorrow... which leads me to another question:

The gear oil in my rear end was light blue in color... looking up Redline gear oils it comes up as a "shockproof light gear oil". I called Redline oil company today and the gentleman said that that was not he best oil to be using for my car configuration. He said to use the "synthetic 75W90" which would work well with the BMW clutch type limited slip rear end??? Any comments on this anyone??

Thanks for listening,
Jack

[CSCHWER]

The man at Redline was right. The 75W90NS is for regular differentials or maybe a LS diff. that you want to lock up hard.