Had my torsen in the car for about a month before the axle nuts came in. Apparantly these ******* are made out of albino elephant tusks because it was hell to find them. Installed them, and went for a shake down drive.







Well, **** me right? Slowly leaking diff fluid from both sides where the torsen meets to the axles ON BOTH SIDES.

Obvious fix, change the seals. Took a look.... Seals looked good... WTF?

Another unobtanium part, found 2 seals from O'Reillys, guaranteed to fit.




The problem was these had an integral dust cover on them... Dry tested for fit outside of car, it seems the axles' dust cover (metal flat brimmed hat) would just fit over the axle seal's dust cover, lip to lip, didn't LOOK like it would cause any interferance... The axles pressed around the new O'Reilly seals very tightly, and it looked all good.

However. Took the car back down, out for a shake down and this time, it's slinging ******* diff fluid out of the drivers side like a crack sale in compton ON THE DRIVER SIDE.... Passenger side seemed fine....



I read on another thread that in this case I should "trim" the lip of the dust cover on the axle to fit within the integral dist cover on the axle seal.... However that will create a metal edge around the rubber inner part within the axle seal.

I know what you're thinking, ZOMFG BUY MAZDA PARTS. I would, and probably will have to, but I've been without my car for a month, mazda dealers here never stock ANYTHING. The torsen isn't even in right, or it is and I'm just THAT unlucky, I've still got the cooling system, the clutch, the new injectors, MS/WBO2 to install, and I'm way behind schedule.

A few things I ran into. The "dust cover" the metal hat looking thing that sits in the groove around the green "thingy" I had no way to tap this in... Anyone know what size PVC pipe to use? Any proven methods? Both times I installed the axles, I just pounded the axle into the diff using a wooden dowel and it SEEMED to snug the dust cover to the outside of the diff housing... Or is it supposed to REALLY be pounded onto the axle green thingy until it sits in there super firm? How do I know if this is causing poor axle fitment and thus not making a good seal? I pound the axles in after my pushing strength gives no more movement. Then I hit them until I get rebound feedback through the axle nut end of the axle shaft while using a block of wood so as not to damage them.









So.... Bad axle seals twice in a row? Remove the dust cover? Trim the dust cover? Is this an axle fitment issue? How do I know if the axle is in deep enough? Anyone ever run into this issue? What do I do now? I can only work on the car on weekends and I have a 14.5 hour work day, so I really need to maximize my time with the car.

 

As your trusted partner in crime I hope we find some answers...

 

As I told James, try prying between the housing and the green part of the axle. If it pops out easily, it's not in and there's interference between the dust shields.

I pound on the rubber cv boot, it hasn't torn yet.

 

Great suggestion, I'll try that first. Anyone else got anything?

 

These guys have everything, usually good prices and ship fast.
Rosenthal Arlington Mazda Parts Store

 

Problem solved. The O'Reilly's part has an integral dust cover, which snugs up to the outermost ring of the axle when the axle is properly placed into the torsen diff. 200 miles, no leaks. Fingers crossed that I can continue with my turbo build.

I don't know where the loose axle dust cover came from, but it certainly didn't belong on my particular set of axles. According to my search-fu (which is weak) they actually belong on RX7 axles, and the seller mistakenly placed them onto the late 1.8 Miata axles. Me, being new to Miatas thought this was supposed to be there. It wasn't.