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Attached to my post is a picture of what appears to be an axle seal leak where the axle goes into the transmission on the driver’s side.
2005 Chevy Malibu LT v6 engine 142k miles USA
Taking a look at different angles, it appears that this is the source of the leak since nothing above, below, left or right is also wet. The passenger side in the same spot is also not wet.
I want to know your thoughts on exactly what this could be. I was expecting to see red transmission fluid but this is not the case. I did not see any dripping and the garage floor has continued to stay dry since discovering this.
Lastly, the reason I looked underneath the car is I have been noticing an intermittent clicking-type noise in the last couple weeks which sounds like it is getting louder. Could this be associated with this leak? I have to do more investigating on this noise. When driving, i can’t reproduce the noise consistently. It will even happen when driving straight on a paved road. I think I can hear it when bouncing the car really hard (like ETCG does in his finding noises video) and it sounds like it is coming from the front driver-side. I cant reproduce the noise when doing tight turns to the left or right in a parking lot which I think is a way to detect a bad CV joint. Both lower ball joints (with lower control arm), stabilizer links, tie rod ends, and front wheel bearings have been replaced within the last 3 years.
I’m more worried about the noise, but any help to what I need to fix is much appreciated! From what ive read, i think i need to replace the axle seal on the transmission along with the axle shaft on the driver side to address the leak. If this is the case, would i replace it by doing this?….https://youtu.be/H97Vh6woJ68
Thank you!
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Just a quick word of doom & gloom.
Definitely replace the seal. But, it’s possible the axle shaft might be worn and “necked down” in the seal area, which might the cause the leak to show up again after a short time.
Hope this isn’t true in your case, just wanted you to be aware of the possibility.
That looks like a axle seal leak. I’ve replaced a few of those, and it’s not a routine job on that car. You need a special tool set to replace the “axle seal and sleeve”, and the procedure is kind of bizarre. You should make sure to familiarize yourself with the procedure and the special tool (which seems nearly impossible to improvise) before you get involved in the repair.
If you’re OK with the extra expense and work, it’d be a good precaution to replace the other seal as well. Or, you could just wait and replace it when it becomes necessary.
It’s entirely your call.
OK and one last thing on the leak. Is there a possibility that this is something other than transmission fluid? I was thinking it could be some sort of grease from the axle shaft assembly itself (if such a thing exists) since transmission fluid is red. The substance is pretty thick in a couple spots like grease.
[quote=”Bnavarre9″ post=138969]OK and one last thing on the leak. Is there a[/quote]
I hope you recover from that heart attack.
If the leak/seep has been there for a while, and it’s low down in the turbulent “road dirt” zone like yours is, it can pick up a lot of shmutz and end up looking and feeling like it’s something different than what it is.
Say, if your CV joint was split and you were flinging CV grease around, I doubt it would migrate uphill towards the seal area. You’re photo doesn’t show evidence of that. I’m certain what you’re seeing is weeping transmission fluid that’s become dirty with exposure.
You don’t have to replace the axle, it’s not grease leaking out. Like Evil-I said, the dirt thickens it up, like adding flour or starch to thicken a sauce.
I also just noticed that the video you posted up there is showing a normal style axle seal on a GM tranny like yours. My Alldata repair information says it’s that sleeved type I mentioned before, that needs a special tool. It’s possible my information isn’t correct, but it’s certainly the vintage of GM where it always seems to be that I run into that sleeve-style one.
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