Is my tranny or differential broke? Options

[HardHead93]

The car has been leaking gear oil. I thought it was an axle seal so I took it to my local shop because they installed the original seal and would warranty it. Come to find out it is not the seal. The axle has some serious in and out play in it. When it moves out gear oil leaks out. The shop has tried 2 other brand new axles and the problem is the same. The last axle would not click and lock in. I have a helical LSD in an S54 transmission and I am running a Gen 4 3sgte tuned for 340 hp on E85. I track the car so it gets beat on pretty hard. The shop is having a hard time getting a good part number because the original part number is discontinued but superseded by another. One axle came from OReilly's and the other came from AutoZone. Is the tranny or the differential broke or am I not getting the right axle? Has anyone else had this problem?

[slavie]

It'll still accelerate slower because the final drive on the S51 is also longer. But, if the car we're talking about is the one with 3SGTE, then S51 is the better gearbox - the engine has more power (and higher redline, too, iirc), so you want the longer gears/final drive.

And yes, that's the electronic speed sensor - the 3 pin plug right above the pas side axle.

Back when I was still abusing my Camry, I actually made a hybrid gearbox with the shorter S54 1-5 gears and the longer 5th gear and final drive out of S51. It worked out pretty well - I had noticeably better acceleration in 1-4, and then the longer 5th gear for acceptable highway revs. The 5th gear synchro was not happy though as the differences in rpm b/w 4th and 5th gear was higher now. Had to shift slower into 5th or it would grind.

[HardHead93]

It'll still accelerate slower because the final drive on the S51 is also longer. But, if the car we're talking about is the one with 3SGTE, then S51 is the better gearbox - the engine has more power (and higher redline, too, iirc), so you want the longer gears/final drive.

And yes, that's the electronic speed sensor - the 3 pin plug right above the pas side axle.

Back when I was still abusing my Camry, I actually made a hybrid gearbox with the shorter S54 1-5 gears and the longer 5th gear and final drive out of S51. It worked out pretty well - I had noticeably better acceleration in 1-4, and then the longer 5th gear for acceptable highway revs. The 5th gear synchro was not happy though as the differences in rpm b/w 4th and 5th gear was higher now. Had to shift slower into 5th or it would grind.

That is good to know because this is a 3sgte Celica.