axle seal...leaking?

[21Rouge]

I have an '05 5 speed Vibe (Toyota all around) with about 6500 miles on the odometer.

I noticed some small stains on the driveway; took the Vibe to my one man mechanic down the street. On the hoist he noticed that the axle seal, driver's side front, is weeping...maybe leaking. He wiped it dry and said to bring it by tomorrow for comparison. (There isnt time to bring it to the dealer)

I need to drive the Vibe many miles (1200 miles) this weekend. Please let me go

. What do you think? Safe enough?

(Btw, at about 2500 miles I had replaced the factory MT fluid with the manual recommended GM synthetic part no. 12346190, which is the Castrol Syntorq. The mechanic who did the fluid replacement commented that maybe the syn fluid caused the seal to swell...)

[ October 05, 2005, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: Boxgrover ]

 

[kenw]

make sure the particular fluid is full, check along the way and take it to the dealer when you get back. Unless it gets really low (and it won't if you check it long the way!), you will be fine.

drive safe!

 

[21Rouge]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kenw:
make sure the particular fluid is full, check along the way and take it to the dealer when you get back. Unless it gets really low (and it won't if you check it long the way!), you will be fine.

drive safe!

---

Appreciate the reply Ken. As I recall the leaking seal appears where the axle enters the transmission (manual). Excuse the basic qs:

So the leaking fluid is the...manual transmission fluid?

If so, I dont think there is an easy way to check the level of this fluid. Is there?

Again appreciate the info.

 

[kenw]

well, I am assuming that the mechanic told you what it was, that would be my guess but without actually seeing, smelling it, i can't say for certain. That's about the limit of my ability to help here, sorry.

 

[RH+G]

Did he put the right amount of fluid in when he changed it?

 

[21Rouge]

quote:

---

Originally posted by RH+G:
Did he put the right amount of fluid in when he changed it?

---

The car manual gives the capacity re the MTFluid as exactly 2 qrts. I was there when he did the drain and then fill. He used exactly the two bottles I provided.

 

[Gurkha]

A weeping seal also lets in dirt and thereby causing problems, so get it replaced ASAP, this time, use some silicon gasket as well.

 

[muddawgs]

does this have a seperate fill drain/fill for the diff for the 5spd? i knew the older corolla autos did anyway. get under and take a good look.. anyway you may want to get it checked/fixed before there is a issue and/or topped up before your trip. the outer seals should be avail at az/napa and can be popped out & tapped back in pretty easy. it'd suck to get stuck somewhere and not be able to get it looked at or worse. good luck..