No! Not that tailshaft! Get your minds out of the gutter! :-)
The saga of the leaking transmission tailshaft seal on our 98 Dakota R/T
continues. I attempted to install yet another seal with no luck this
afternoon. It looks like the tailshaft bushing has walked rearward so
that it sticks out of the tailshaft almost 1/2 inch.
The description and my problem, go to those who have either: 1. replaced
the tailshaft seal on a Dakota R/T or, 2. have a FSM (shame on me, I have
yet to purchase one) and can look at any pictures/drawings and give me an
idea what it is supposed to look like.
The seal presses into the back of the tailshaft. There is a little
housing for the seal to press into. The housing is the proper diameter to
accept the metal OD part of the seal. It is about 3/8ths inch larger in
radius than the hole for the driveshaft yoke, and about 1/2 inch deep to
accept the metal part of the seal. On our Dakota, the tailshaft bushing
protrudes into this housing almost a 1/2 inch, so that it is almost flush
with the rearmost part of the tailshaft.
When I install the seal, the ID rubber part is pushed inward, inside of
the bushing. With it installed in this way, I cannot force the
driveshaft yoke into the tailshaft housing of the transmission. When I
removed the seal, the little spring that maintains the seal's integrity
was left on the OD of the bushing. Closely looking at the outside wall
of the bushing, there is about 1/4 inch of it that is of a different
color, suggesting that it may have been pressed in deeper into the
tailshaft. Also, there are hairline cracks on it.
Can anyone shed some light on what I am experiencing and what I should
find? Either the bushing has walked back and out of the tailshaft
housing, or the dolts at the parts department (and I do mean dolts, they
have no idea what a Dakota R/T is, what engine or transmission it has)
have sold my wife the wrong seal TWO times. Thank you for any information.
Gene Beaird
98 Flame Red CC R/T
Houston, Texas
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