020 Transaxle Main Shaft Seal Removal

Jim B.

Thanks for the advice, but how do you get an edge to pull on with the main shaft still in place? It seems to me that one must drill or punch a hole or two in the top of the seal before a standard hook-type seal puller can be used. I've been hesitant to do this as once the hole is made, I'm committed to getting the bugger out, and I'm still not sure the depth of the bell housing will allow me to engage the hole at the proper angle with my seal puller.

A little more help please...

A seal puller sneaks between the shaft and seal. Personally I use a dull bent screw driver.

Jim B.

Sounds easy enough; I'll give it a try. I'm still a bit concerned, though, about scratching the sealing surface of the shaft when using this method. Thanks for your help.

I tested this idea on an old seal to see if I could punch a hole with my puller. I may have to file the tip of my puller a bit to produce a hole without excessively distorting the seal. This may be the best approach as it reduces the risk of scratching sealing surfaces. Thanks for your help.

Woodchuck, this isn't the first time your posts have helped me turn a mountain into a mole hill as far as maintenance of my GTI is concerned (I tend to "over-engineer" my repairs). I read your post, and immediately went into my garage to dig a small right-angle blade screw driver from the back of my toolbox. The blade went between the seal lip and shaft as slick as snot, and a little yank popped out the seal. No scratches on the shaft or bore...beautiful! Many thanks.

PayPal donation would be helpful. E-mail me for info.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, and I don't want to fault you for trying to turn your considerable knowledge into income, but I have to say I'm a little surprised by this solicitation. I've often wondered what motivates some of the individuals identifying themselves as professional techs, etc. to spend their personal time giving out free advice to this group. I've always assumed they love what they do and derive satisfaction from helping others. This is the first time someone has suggested that I provide a monetary donation in exchange for a useful post. I have to say that it somewhat taints the whole "free exchange of ideas" thing for me.

I'm not a professional mechanic, but I like to think that my experience working on my own GTI over the years allows me to give back a little (most would probably say VERY little) to this group in the form of free advice. I would be the first to say that the value of the advice I receive greatly outweighs any that I'm qualified to provide. Having said that, I hope that my public acknowledgement of your skills and sincere appreciation of your advice is payment enough. And let's face it, someone whose car is a 1987 VW with 220,000 miles on the clock (and is currently on jackstands sans transaxle) can't have very deep pockets.

Sound ungrateful all you want, this is USENET. IMO, I use a small screwdriver to accomplish the same thing. Before you reassemble everything, don't forget to machine the 'stepped' flywheel and while you're at it, I'd also replace the differential bearing seals (under the driveaxle flanges) and the driveaxle grease seals.

I still want to give Woodchuck credit (if not cash), since I've gleaned some useful information from more than one of his posts.

Thanks for the advice, though. I actually did a clutch job on the same car about 10 years ago, and I was hesitant at that time to put a screwdriver between the seal lip and shaft for fear of scratching the shaft and providing a leak path directly to my new clutch. That time, I actually cobbled together a pretty ridiculous homemade puller that required the drilling of two small holes in the seal to use. It worked, but in hindsight it was overkill. The fact that so many of you guys said that you used small screwdrivers to remove the same seal gave me confidence to try it. I felt ridiculous when it popped out so easily.

As before, I'm replacing all the seals on the transaxle (main shaft, gear selector, clutch lever, final drive flanges), as well as the release bearing and rear main seal on the block. You've stumped me with the mention of a "differential bearing seal" though. On my transmission, the only seals associated with the drive flanges are the flange seals and the outer cap. There is a brass "tapered ring", that comes out of the bearing, but no seal. The differential bearings on my transaxle are unsealed, tapered roller bearings that are clearly visible when the flanges are removed; there is no seal. My Bentley manual doesn't mention this seal either. Que?

It was my poor choice of words to describe the axle flange seals. I was trying to find a way to differentiate from the outer cap but since you recognize both, I can go back into hiding.

You didn't mention anything about machining the flywheel. I *once* replaced a clutch without grinding the flywheel. Once. ;-) YMMV!

Darryl.

Well, a couple weeks ago I ponied up and sent a donation to Woodchuck. I've learned a ton of money saving and time saving stuff from his posts and feel like he earned it. In fact, I used to muse about sending him a Pizza Hut gift certificate or something to thank him for all his help. And the same for Pencilneck who unfortunately no longer seems to be around.

Bill

78 Rabbit...10/77 - 4/02 82 Convertibles(s)...since 93 95 Golf GL...since 11/99 02 Passat 1.8T Tip GLS...since 4/02

Jim B.