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Cv axle leaking tran fluid?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by latitude500, Sep 17, 2019.

  1. latitude500

    latitude500 Junior Member

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    Hello Everyone,

    First I must say thank you for sharing all your knowledge it's a big help to me and others that will later read this thread.

    I have a 2013 Prius that has tran fluid leaking out of a (what dealership told me) china made drivers side axle. I was noticing some red tran fluid on the garage floor. So I lifted the car up and sure enough I have a socked plastic shield and a wet under side of the car. The tran fluid is coming from the drivers side axle, where it goes into the transmission. After reading up on the china made axles they are way cheaper. But what it looks like its come at a cost. How should I go about fixing this issue? Do I need a new axle or am I looking at replacing a bushing between the axle and transmission housing? Should i purchase another china made part or go with Toyota part?

    Thank you,
     
    PriusCamper likes this.
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I'm confused by what you mean by fluid coming from driver's side axle? The coolant is a red fluid and transmission is a red fluid so please be super specific and also do thorough inspection/cleaning of everything under the hood so you seen details of what's going on, so you're certain of the source... Once you figure that, please post some pics and we'll help more.

    Or maybe what you're referring to is this? Cv axle boot replacement. | PriusChat
     
  3. ilovegirls

    ilovegirls Member

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    From what you are describing, I think it is the axle seal between the axle and the transmission. I would get a new axle seal and a rebuilt Toyota axle if possible. Good luck!
     
    RMB likes this.
  4. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    These are made in Japan. Great generalization by the stealership, I would run far away from that place after they demonstrated their knowledge.
     
    edthefox5 likes this.
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Your post is very clear.

    Hopefully they can just replace the seal. They will have to remove the inner cv joint and pull the seal out and replace it. Dealer will be about $500 I guesstimate.

    Be aware sometimes that seal fails if the inner cv joint has been damaged and it tends to beat the seal up from wobblying. So have them check that inner when they pull it. Hit any potholes really hard lately?

    Lastly do not drive the car till you get this fixed you may have no trans fluid in there and it will burn up the trans.That $500 could turn into $5000 real quick. If you have AAA have it flat bedded to the dealer. Unless your handy and can jack the car up and pull the fill hole bolt and check its level. If you can do that and fill it up I would drive it to the dealership. If not I would be scared not knowing how low it is. I'm not scared my wallet is.

    Lots of posts about G3 trans fluid changes and ow to access the fill and dump bolts.
     
    RMB and latitude500 like this.
  6. latitude500

    latitude500 Junior Member

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    So it looks like it's the seal that has failed. Damn Okay off I go to fix that.
     
    2012 Prius v wagon 3 likes this.
  7. RMB

    RMB Senior Member

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    Question: Did you recently replaced the driver side half shaft/drive axle/or CV boot? Or previous owner did?
    The leaking could be from a bad seal, bad axle, or a bad install, so please identify the problem otherwise you will be repeating this fix again.

    And most importantly: Don't drive it until you fill up ATF as someone mentioned it already.
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yeah... All our most essential electronics like our phones and computers are made in China, yet in the auto industry there's this chronic notion that parts from China are bad... Every time I'm looking at prices for a part for a car that has a bearing in it, my local buddy I work on cars with will start going crazy about bearings from China and how terrible they are... Lol... I'm old enough to know that it may of been true several decades ago, but it's much more complicated than that these days. Now it just seems kind of misguided and racist. Then again every car part has low quality and high quality options and that's not easy to figure out, especially when buying online.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe the car was in a collision or even just hit a curb on that side? We had a driver's side seal go on a previous car, and it had taken a significant impact on driver's front corner. The rim was refinished, front suspension replaced (plus extensive bodywork), but a few years later the transmission seal on that side started leaking. Could be directly due to the impact, or poor install technique of a replacement seal, who knows.