How difficult is it to replace a M/T Pivot Shaft Oil Seal GC0117131A?

[burlmancer]

I posted earlier this year about a mysterious fluid leak, but I wasn't in a good spot to actually fix anything. It turns out that it was transmission fluid/gear oil from the base of the shift linkage/pivot shaft.

An OEM GC01-17-131A (https://parts.mazdausa.com/a/Mazda_...CHANGE-CONTROL-SYSTEM/AUCV03-1720A.html#17131) was inexpensive but I can't find any guidance on replacing this for a Mazda5. Meanwhile, similar repairs for e.g. the Mazdaspeed3's A601-17-131 look pretty involved, e.g.

• MS3 Google Drive Repair Guide (via r/mazdaspeed3 thread)
• PIVOT SHAFT SEAL HOW-TO GUIDE (IN DEPTH!) YouTube

Anybody here ever need to look at this for their Mazda5?

 

[billabob123]

I am not familiar with this repair, but I have a FSM downloaded. Is this the part you are replacing?

 

[burlmancer]

I posted earlier this year about a mysterious fluid leak, but I wasn't in a good spot to actually fix anything. It turns out that it was transmission fluid/gear oil from the base of the shift linkage/pivot shaft.

An OEM GC01-17-131A (https://parts.mazdausa.com/a/Mazda_...CHANGE-CONTROL-SYSTEM/AUCV03-1720A.html#17131) was inexpensive but I can't find any guidance on replacing this for a Mazda5. Meanwhile, similar repairs for e.g. the Mazdaspeed3's A601-17-131 look pretty involved, e.g.

• MS3 Google Drive Repair Guide (via r/mazdaspeed3 thread)
• PIVOT SHAFT SEAL HOW-TO GUIDE (IN DEPTH!) YouTube

Anybody here ever need to look at this for their Mazda5?

Thanks for the reply. No, this isn't it. It's actually on the top of the transmission where the linkages meet the select shift or... pivot shaft, as I've seen it referred to. I'm in the middle of trying to repair this yet this afternoon, but after disconnecting the pivot joints, I can lift the pivot shaft a few centimeters, and it stops. This might be a lot more involved than I had hoped...

Attached an image crudely annotated in red. The arrow is the part I'm trying to replace.

 

[billabob123]

You could try posting on the Mazda 5 Owners facebook group, lots of activity there.

 

[burlmancer]

Thanks for the interest and suggestions, billabob123! I just joined that group this morning to follow along... I did manage to find someone who offered a suggestion on reddit after some extensive searching and it worked!

For posterity... hopefully I can save someone the headache in the future if they should need to do something similar for a mazda2, mazda5, or non-speed variants of the mazda3 and mazda6 for GC01-17-131A (suppressions GC01-17-131; GC0117131A).

A way to replace the manual transmission pivot shaft or shift shaft seal involves lowering the transmission from the vehicle just enough to provide room to access the the shift shaft assembly from the driver side wheel well:

1. Loosen the driver's side front wheel lug nuts
2. With the driver's side front end safely supported, e.g. on jack stands, remove the driver side front wheel and any fender plastics to allow you access to the transmission and the base of the shift shaft that passes through the shift shaft seal and boot.
3. From the engine bay, remove the air cleaner box, battery, battery tray/ecu assembly, and transmission mount cover
4. Carefully disconnect the shift cables from the shift and select levers
5. Optionally remove the select lever and select lever bracket retained by two 12mm bolts.
6. With the transmission safely supported, e.g. by adjustable jack, remove the transmission mount
7. While continuing to support the transmission, slowly lower the transmission until the roll pins (99222-0532) that affix the shift lever to the shift shaft are exposed to the the driver side front wheel well
8. Using small hammeer and appropriately sized punch, drive the roll pins out of the shift lever and shift shaft assembly from either the driver side wheel well or from the engine bay, whichever is most comfortable–this may rotating the shift shaft to improve your striking angle.
9. With the pins removed, lift the shift lever from the shift shaft–the shift shaft and shift lever may be slightly seized, but the two roll pins should be the only two piece of hardware keeping them engaged.
10. Carefully remove the shift shaft seal, lifting it out of the recessed shift shaft seal housing and off of the shift shaft
11. Clean and dry the area as necessary and ensure the recessed shift shaft seal housing is free of debris
12. With a new shift shaft seal, apply a small amount of 75w-80 gl-4 to the seal, and press it into the recessed shift shaft seal housing–a spare piece of pvc pipe, plastic funnel, or other implement that fits around the seal can be used to assist in pressing the seal into place.
13. Before re-assembly, inspect the shift lever, select lever, and cables... clean and apply an appropriate lubricant as necessary to the ball pivots, housings, and the barrel connected to the select lever retained by snap ring (99576-0800). Lubricants and greasing seems to be controversial some times, so I'll just note that I used a fully synthetic lithium grease here, ymmv.
14. Prepare the shift lever for replacement onto the shift shaft by re-installing the roll pins in the shift lever, driving them into the lever slightly but not far enough into the lever to prevent re-installation onto the shift shaft
15. Replace the shift lever onto the shift shaft, re-position shift shaft seal boot, and punch the pins back into the shift lever and shift shaft aseembly.
16. Re-install the select lever and cables.
17. Carefully lift transmission and manipulate into place to re-install the tranmssion mount–I've read that 80 ft-lbs is the torque spec for this.
18. Re-install transmission mount cover, battery tray/ecu assembly, battery, air box.
19. Re-install fender plastics, wheel
20. Carefully remove vehicle from supports/jacks stands; test drive.

Other helpful resources:

• transmssion mount replacement
• stiff gear linkage lubrication
• mazda5 clutch/suspension overhaul