So after I gently popped my drivers side axle out of the car I noticed a circular spring kind of hanging out just inside the transmission ( near the shaft seal I was replacing) and I ultimately wound up fishing it out. Can anyone tell me the purpose of this spring, and how to reinstall it? I am assuming it may have came off the input side of the driveshaft, as it pretty much fits over the end of the axle that interacts with the stub shaft perfectly.

I have never seen anything like this in a FWD setup before, so I am a bit puzzled. the spring diameter itself is tiny, maybe 1/16". Any insight would be great. Thanks!

 

I've gone through the diagram of the transmission and I do not see it anywhere.

 

pic?
is it a coiled small spring?

maybe a seal spring that has come out of the seal?

 

Looks like its possible maybe it popped out of a recess I can see in a bearing race in there? I'm very confused.

 

Seal spring

 

Beat me to it

 

Wow, I feel like a real dope hahahaha. The old seal was so dryrotted that apparently the spring just kind of flopped out, so I never really saw the assembly. Just took a good look at the new one and it clearly includes a tiny coil spring as part of the inner seal. Thank you for the hints, hopefully if anyone else has this happen they won't flip out like I did!