The near side gearbox drive shaft oil seal has been weeping for a while on my boy's 2012 1.4 8 valve Punto and now you could almost call it a leak. I've been putting off doing it for quite a while but now it urgently needs a track rod end on the same side. Seems silly not to do the seal at the same time and I'm just wondering if you have to take the whole shaft out or, with the track rod end disconnected and the two big bolts out of the bottom of the strut and with the hub pivoted out on the bottom ball joint, (which would remain installed in the bottom arm) but with the CV still bolted into the hub, can you get the inner end of the shaft far enough out of the gearbox to allow removal of the old seal and replacement with the new one?
I'm interested because if it can be done this way it could save time and bother but if it can't then I would want to "crack off" the big drive shaft nut first before dismantling anything else or jacking the car up so I can have the wheel on the ground whilst the nut is initially slackened.
I'm interested because if it can be done this way it could save time and bother but if it can't then I would want to "crack off" the big drive shaft nut first before dismantling anything else or jacking the car up so I can have the wheel on the ground whilst the nut is initially slackened.
