[Mquintana97]

I have a video of what the mechanic was telling me I had to fix and he just showed me that my driveshaft had some play and that the donut connected to the driveshaft had a small crack

 

[Mquintana97]

Yes it’s the rubber donut thing that’s cracked I attached pictures and he said that the transmission station housing seal is what’s leaking the bushing I seen on other treads of ppl calling it the tail shaft seal I’m not sure it’s the tail part of the tranny that attaches to the driveshaft I attached a picture the mechanic said that the driveshaft had play in it and if I didn’t fix that first that replacing that bearing and seal would just leak again I was hoping there was a cheaper alternative before spending 600+ on a new driveshaft

 

[Mquintana97]

He told me the center carrier bearing was worn or looks broken and that the leak was coming from the transmission station housing idk a lot of ppl call it different things but it’s like the tail on the tranny that goes into the driveshaft I attached a picture below he said that there’s a seal and bushing in there and the fluid that’s been leaking is transmission fluid but I been questioning this part because I been checking my transmission fluid level and it hasn’t changed it still full unless there’s something else in there that’s a different fluid

 

[Mquintana97]

The tailshaft bushing is what keeps the driveshaft located in the center of the tailshaft and is what the driveshaft rides on. The tailshaft seal is what keeps the oil from leaking out the tailshaft. A bad driveshaft or guibo will cause the yoke on the driveshaft to wobble and wear out the seal or bushing or both.

Have him check the center carrier bearing as well. The rubber can tear which will cause the driveshaft to yoke wobble in the tailshaft as well.

A rubber guibo is only like $20 or something cheap like that…

Now that I’m thinking about it could it be gear oil I’m leaking ?

 

[Mquintana97]

Ok so lets establish a few things… The all caps words are the important terms.

The back of the transmission is called a TAILSHAFT. Inside the tailshaft is a bushing. When you shove the yoke of the driveshaft into the transmission tailshaft, it rides on the tailshaft BUSHING. Then there is a tailshaft SEAL. This seal has an orange lip in ur photo. This seal is what rides against the outside of the driveshaft yoke and keeps the transmission fluid from coming out the tailshaft. Now that we have that established…

It’s clear that your SEAL is leaking. Now unless the seal is really old they usually just dont start leaking. It usually takes something going bad on the driveshaft to throw the driveshaft out of balanance. When the driveshaft is out of balance the yoke will not spin in a straight line as intended, it will have a slight wobble to it. When it wobbles it will wear out this seal and you will leak out of the back of the trans as shown in your pic.

Now… if lets say your bad guibo has been there for a little while and your driveshaft yoke has been wobbling inside the tailshaft. At some point this will weal out the tailshaft BUSHING. If the bushing wears out, no matter how many times you replace the SEAL it will still leak as the BUSHING is letting the yoke wobble now.

You need to address a few things.

A new GUIBO is #1.

If your CENTER CARRIER BEARING on the DRIVESHAFT (the thin rubber piece that holds the joint where the 2 pieces of the driveshaft are supported under the car) is ripped, or completely torn, the driveshaft will wobble even more and wear out the seal and or bushing super quick. Unfortunately replacing the center carrier bearing is pretty challenging and has to be done correct or the driveshaft will always vibrate no matter what.

For reference here is my torn center carrier bearing on my stock gto driveshaft from back in the day. See the tear? When this happened it completely wore out my tailshaft SEAL but i caught it before i wore out my tailshaft BUSHING.
View attachment 147254



Sounds like you need a new center carrier bearing, guibo, tailshaft bushing and tailshaft seal.

Again, i would think about buying a new driveshaft. Or look for a good condition used stock driveshaft.

Thank you I’m new to all this and I appreciate your upfront response with all that being said it looks like the best option is to just replace the driveshaft first then fix the leak what brand do you recommend? I been skeptical about replacing it because of the vibration at higher speeds as you mentioned

 

[Mquintana97]

What website did you order your 2 piece DSS driveshaft from I seen lethal performance has one for about 1k.. did you like your 2 piece from gtog8ta ? That’s seems more in my budget at the moment

 

[Mquintana97]

I got my 900hp DSS 2 piece (aluminum/chromoly) from Kollar Racing. His user name is Duckman on ls1gto.com. He only sells gto stuff and one of the few left in the industry still stocking almost everything for us late modle gto guys. I try to buy from him whenever possible. When i bought mine it was $1100 i think. Unfortunatley it looks like they are up to $1500… i think because its so hard to get raw chromoly right now.

I really liked the gtog8ta 2 piece factory replacement shaft. It was smooth and i had no issues with it. Problem is im super hard on mine gto. I ended up bending the yoke at the track on the first one. Got a replacement and had it for a while. Again i was beating on it and did a clutch dump from 5k to do a burnout on christmas day a few years back and blew up the forward u joints. Thats why upgraded. The way i drive i need a 1350 series u/joint with a billet yoke. Now i just brake axles LoL.

If you drive normal and its your daily i would absolutely get the gtog8ta factory replacement. They have a warranty too. Eric, the owner, fully warrantied the first shaft, and gave me a credit on the second one toward his 1000hp 1 piece shaft. I really liked his 1 piece too. Vibes werent there until over 80mph. Problem is i was roll racing a lot at the time “in mexico”, and would see speeds over 125mph. That driveshaft didnt like that, at least on my car.

The build tolerances on these cars are all over the place. Mix that in with a unique solid mounted independed rear end, and you end up with a 50/50 chance you’ll end up with vibrations on a 1 piece. Again, if its your daily, and you arent racing in mexico and all that, the 1 piece would probably suit you just fine.

Here’s a few pics of the gtog8ta factory style 2 piece, the gtog8ta 1000hp aluminum 1 piece, and the DSS 900hp 2 piece (aluminum/chomoly).


View attachment 147255


View attachment 147258


View attachment 147257

You can see how beefy the 2 piece Sonnax billet yoke is on the DSS driveshaft:
View attachment 147256

vs the gtog8ta yoke i bent at the track:
View attachment 147259

Appreciate your feedback I’m glad there’s still ppl like you willing to help us new guys with troubleshooting issues so I think I’m guna go with the 2 piece from gtog8 you said you felt vibes on the 1 piece but what about the 2 piece ? I race every now and then and it’s not my daily I want to build it up as of right now it’s my project car the previous owner lowered it on eibach springs on stock suspension so it rides like shit and I was going to address that issue first until this leak started so I guess this is my main priority first lol