So, I had the Z in the shop last week for a rear drive shaft leak. The shop I use said it was most likely due to the car being driven so little (08 Nismo 29k Miles) and I put 600 miles on it within a few weeks. The car has only had 3000 miles put on it in the last 2-3 years. So, the mileage thing sounded plausible. Just had a clutch bleed done today, and now we noticed a leak in the passenger side rear axle. I've been using this shop for years, and we always checkout my vehicles together once they're on the rack. Looking at the pics from last week, it was there we just missed this because there was less of it on the exhaust. These aren't huge costly repairs, but it is interesting that the previous owner had none of these leaks for the 2+ years he owned it and now it's happening. I do "drive" the car but I don't beat it. I don't think it's been over 6000rpm yet since I took possession of it.

It is an 11 year old car, so I get that but I just found it interesting these both happened at around the same time. The drive axle leak looks very minimal, but I personally don't like to leave anything leaking. I'm still learning about the Z, and wondering if anyone has had recurring problems with leaks in these areas. Pics below.


Before fixing rear shaft leak.

After fixing rear shaft leak.

Drive axle leak.

 

Apparently my new owners thread got closed due to a hijacking... Anyway, thanks to those out there that answered all my questions and since this is a drivetrain post I'll update here on the clutch. Drove the Z for the first time today after the clutch fluid change, and there was no fluctuation at all in the pedal. Not only that but if shifts a lot smoother now too!

Took a look under the car today, and didn't see any more fluid dripping on the exhaust from the axle. It's got to be a very slow leak...

 

So after looking at some diagrams of the cv assembly and how it connects to the output shaft I don't think the six bolt connection point would be leaking. Correct me if I'm wrong, but would there be any fluid in that joint? From pics, it looks like an empty cavity. I've checked all around the pumpkin, and I'm not seeing any active leaks just proof that there was one at some point. If I can get it up on a rack this week, I may have the shop put some dye in there to see if we can track it down. Otherwise maybe what we're seeing is excess grease from the cv assembly, last time something was done with it. I have no service records on this car, so it' hard to say what exactly happened before the previous owner bought it. He didn't do anything but change the oil in it.

 

old fluid will do that man. .

I would change the fluid. fresh new stuff. and try that first. see if fresh fluid helps.

then you need gaskets.

 

Yeah thanks, we just did a diff fluid change with the drive shaft seal. I think there's some grease from the cv assembly that seeped out on the exhaust. We had it on a rack today, nobody saw any new fluid coming out, so I think we're good. I'll just keep an eye on it.

 

Either you overfilled the diff and/or the breather tube is clogged and the fluid is blowing past the seals.

 

It was not overfilled. The shop did mention though that they cleaned out the breather tube when they did the service.