Should there be play where driver side output shaft meets transmission?
 

Hi there, I'm new to the Forum. We recently acquired a 2004 Mini Cooper base model. I recently had it in the shop for an alternator change and the mechanic mentioned that there appeared to be a leak from the output shaft seal on the transmission side. He said he wasn't familiar enough with Mini's to know whether or not the amount of play that he was seeing in the output shaft in that area was excessive or not. He had the car up on a lift and showed me so I know some play is evident. I guess there is some concern that he could change the seal but that if the play is excessive it may just redamage the seal and continue the leak. I'm just wondering if there's anyone out there that has experience with this and knows whether there is any play in that area that is acceptable. It may be worth mentioning that the private party from which we bought the car mentioned that they had changed both output shafts just prior. I suppose there's some possibility that in so doing the previous owner caused excessive play or damage in that area. I called and talked to a service advisor at my local MINI dealership who indicated that he'd never seen a problem with the output shaft itself in that way. He assumes that if there were damaged anywhere that was causing play it would be on the output shaft bearing inside the transmission which would be a very costly repair. But he also indicated that he's never heard of that component ever having gone bad before. I'm looking for any information that might put my mind at ease or at least point me in the right direction.Thanks!