Axle: 2 New question(s) 24th post

ApexMirage

I had my front right axle gasket replaced, but now its leaking(much more so than before - it was loose and leaking just enough to warrant having it looked at, but not enough to cause concern). I've already scheduled to get my car back to where i got it done for them to figure out what's wrong with it, but in the meantime, I want to know if driving like this can cause damage.

Before this, the car felt wobbly, as if one of the wheels wasnt perfectly round. I checked the tire pressure on all four, and it was fine. Can the gasket have been the source of the wobbling? Having it replaced didnt fix it, but I'm assuming that's since there's still a problem with it. What could be causing it if not that?

wallabeeX

Could be. There's a lot down there to both leak and wobble. Does it make any noise? Does it only happen when you're turning? Does it happen when you're pushing the gas down, or always while you're rolling?

ApexMirage

Its only really noticable at low speeds, its not a huge wobble, but enough to be an annoyance. There's no noise as far as I can tell, and I've only noticed it on a straight road, such as approaching a red light. Gas/no gas has no effect to my knowledge.

zilo

You probably shouldn't drive on it if it's leaking, especially if it rains. You don't want to get dirt and gunk up in your CV, that's a hell of a lot more expensive to fix than a $200 axle boot.

The source of the wobble may very well be a bad CV anyway, though.

fuelish

That does not sound like a CV issue. The CV joint allows power transfer at an angle thru the half shaft. When they start to go, you will get a clunking sound when turning, but it would be very unusual for one to create a wobbling feeling, They have pretty much zero freeplay and work with no issue except the clunk until they outright fail. At most I think you would get vibration transitioning from load to no load.
I would check for: loose wheel, out of balance wheel, bent wheel, thrown belt(The belts in the tire shift, shows up as odd tread wear), bad/loose wheel bearing.

ApexMirage

I had to google the CV joint, doubt its that as Fuelish mentions. The brakes/tires were changed the same day, so im guessing its not related to that either as the problem was there both before and after.

fuelish

Ok, You want to have the wheel bearings checked. In the back it is pretty easy to tell if they are loose, but the fronts not so much.
Another thing that occurs to me is that the bushings that hold the steering rack to the chassis could be loose or worn out. That would cause your problem but not be obvious when the car was having brakes done.

ApexMirage

Are either of those important enough to need to have fixed asap if they are in fact to blame? I'm low on funding =p

How long can i go ignoring it?

fuelish

They could both cause some serious steering issues, but usually get worse gradually. You really need to find someone that knows your model of car and can figure out exactly what is wrong. Then they can tell you how much it might run to fix it.

zilo

fuelish wrote: »

That does not sound like a CV issue. The CV joint allows power transfer at an angle thru the half shaft. When they start to go, you will get a clunking sound when turning, but it would be very unusual for one to create a wobbling feeling, They have pretty much zero freeplay and work with no issue except the clunk until they outright fail. At most I think you would get vibration transitioning from load to no load.
I would check for: loose wheel, out of balance wheel, bent wheel, thrown belt(The belts in the tire shift, shows up as odd tread wear), bad/loose wheel bearing.

My old Explorer had CV issues that caused a wobbly feeling. Well, it was more of a jitter. Sort of a high-frequency shimmy. A wiggle.

Regardless, if your axle boot is leaking lubricant (I assume that's what you meant when you said "axle gasket"), you really don't want to drive on it much.

ApexMirage

It was leaking transmission fluid aparently. How would I go about checking how much Is left in there?

Daenris

Usually you need to have your car warmed up by driving it around (like 10-20 miles). Then park it on a level space, keep it running. Run through all the gears, stopping on each gear for a few seconds. Then put it in park, and with the engine still running open the hood and check the transmission fluid. There should be a dipstick for transmission fluid similar to the one for your oil. Pull it out, wipe it off, then put it back in all the way and pull it out to check the level.

What make/model/year of car do you have?

ApexMirage

Its an automatic 2003 cavalier. That sounds like more trouble than it's worth though =/

Daenris

Nah, it's really not hard at all. The main issue is that your engine needs to be warmed up, and you check the transmission fluid level while the engine is on. Aside from getting the engine warmed up it's no harder than checking your oil level.

I'll look around a bit to see if I can find a picture of your model to point out where the transmission fluid dipstick is.

Edit:

http://www.cawpin.com/images/carpics/Cavalier-Engine-Bay01.jpg

The transmission fluid dipstick should be the yellow (or might be orange or red or something) ring near the bottom left in that picture.

ApexMirage

thats the oil =p

Fats

He doesn't have a transmission dipstick, unfortunately. You check the fluid level through a fill plug (like a transfer case) and add fluid through a vent hole in the top of the transmission. It's a pain in the ass and god knows what GM was thinking when they designed it.

Daenris

Ouch... okay, that sucks then. I'm glad I have a transmission fluid dipstick

ApexMirage

So what would you suggest Fats?

Fats

I'm not sure. To check the fluid the car has to be level, but of course you have to raise the car so you can fit under it, so it's tough to do on your own. I would drive it as little as possible until you can get it looked at, since it's very easy to destroy a transmission with no fluid.

ApexMirage

Assuming I find the proper place to pour the stuff in, would anything bad (worse then not adding any) happen from having too much in there?

ApexMirage

Alright so aparently from what I understood (I'm using my friend's dad, he's got his own garage and everything, but I'll be damned if i can even understand every 3rd word he says) the gasket (I think) is pertruding, and fixing that would involve a new transmission entirely. I can't exactly drive around with transmission fluid leaking at all times, so I can't just ignore it.


Is that even possible? Is that even true(the transmission part) if that is possible? I'm guessing that would be the source of the wobble as well?

I'm planning on getting a 2nd opinion asap but should I just start bending over for a new transmission? =(

Edit: His son (my friend) can only be there to help translate on weekends and I dont entirely trust the coherence of 3 way communication.

fuelish

Could you possibly take and post a couple of pictures of the problem area? Your tech speak in the auto department is a little limited(No offence) and that would make it easier to figure out what it up.
I find it hard to believe you need to replace a working tranny because it leaks or has seal issues. I really would like to see what is up.

ApexMirage

ill see if i can borrow a camera for when i get a 2nd opinion, but you're right that my car vocabulary is limited =p

I'm also assuming it was a bunch of crap. I'll see if i can get a few pics, an estimate and a reasonable explanation tomorrow.

ApexMirage

So the 2nd opinion turns out to be just about the same.

The axle is 'loose', as in you can pull on it back and forth and it moves, whereas the left side does not. It also makes noise upon being shaken, which is also obviously unwanted. This looseness is (i'm assuming)causing the leak, even though he didnt directly mention it.

The guy told me that in order to fix that, the entire transmission would need to be changed since it's directly connected. He also mentionned someone he know that had a similar problem and managed to drive his car for two years simply by keeping tabs on his transmision fluid levels, which is something I can't do because aparently cavaliers and malibus dont come with dipsticks.

I've but two questions left:

1. Is it viable to assume the wobbling is caused by this, or is it definately a seperate issue? (He was unsure, mentionned something about suspention)

2. Are dipsticks available for purchase seperatly, or do they simply not exist for cavaliers?

JebusUD

I think the wobbling is probably from that, unless you have bad ball joints on the place where the wheels connect the the frame. I had those and the whole front end shook.

The thing with wobbling like that is that it usually causes other things to break. so, it may run a while longer, but the longer it goes the more things that will break.

It may still be cheaper to not fix it and save for another car.