jmitchell

So I went in for an oil change about a month ago at the dealership and the following day I pulled out of my garage and noticed a 4" diameter puddle of dark-colored fluid on the garage floor. Thinking that this may have been carelessnessof the mechanicpouring the oil into the reservoir, I didn't think much of it. Checked my oil level the next morning and moved on.

However, a couple of days later and every two or three days after that until now, I have noticed a drop of this same dark-colored fluid on my garage floor which shows up in the same spot. I crawled under my Tahoe and noticed that the fluid is coming from the passenger side front axle. It is not coming from the differential housing in the center, but it is coming from a small slotted area on the passenger side where the axle itself appears to be visible just before the 'shock' looking units near the wheel (there is a large bolted connection of the axle casing right here as well). This same small slot occurs on the driver's side, but is completely dry where the passenger's side is dark, mucky, and leaking.

Does this mean I have a leaky front axle seal or what seems to be the issue here? Is this something to be worried about? Could this be something that the dealership created during the routine check-upfor theoil-change? I haven't discussed this with the dealer yet but plan to this week sometime. Just looking for some insight and expertise before I head in. Thanks for the help.

ZX1100F1

Due to the location of the leak (passenger side) and the fact that the leak from what you said; is now just a drop, I would first suspect that the mechanic may have just spilled some oil down the side of the engine when he was refilling the engine and it taking its time working out of the nooks and cranny’s.


It's pretty easy to determine if the leak is engine oil or differential fluid, if it is front differential fluid the fluid is 80W90 which is very thick and will have a strong odor, engine oil is much thinner and not so smelly.

mary900

Chevy dealerputgreasein the top of my shock instead of the grease fitting on a Silverado I had. Even dealers are susceptible to the quality of their help.

Try to get back to the dealer as soon as you can.

73shark

Hey the top of a shock sort of looks like a grease zerk. Cut the poor guy some slack.

jmitchell

ZX, I actually felt the top of the axle and there was no fluid coming from above (even with a visual check). I just have a hard time believing that oil just happened to spill right at that slotted location and is still dripping over a month gone by now. I did smell and feel the fluid and yes it does feel much thicker than oil and had a distinct odor as well.

So if this is axle fluid, do I have a big problem here?

ZX1100F1

Not a huge problem but you will want to have the axle shaft oil seal replaced.
This is covered under your GM 5yr/100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

jmitchell

Thanks for the insight. I'm about due for another oil change so it's a good time to get this done as well. Do you know if they have to pull the entire axle off to fix this? If yes, can this bring further problems down the road?

ZX1100F1

Replacing the seal is not all that technical; the nice part is that most dealers powertrain technicians are generally pretty good.
If it were my Tahoe I would have no reservations about the repair or the likeliness of future problems as a result, it’s a simple leak have it fixed end of problem not big deal.

jmitchell

Update...
Got an oil change today and had them check the leak out. It is for sure a front axle seal leak and I have it scheduled to be replaced on Tuesday. Should take 2-3 hours. Dealer said they've seen it in a couple of other 2007+ Tahoes/Silverados. Thanks for the help!

booyaLTZ

Took my 2007 tahoe in for an oil change and they said my front passenger axle seal was leaking. i actually did notice a drop of the thick black oil on my garage floor recently.
they quoted around $140 for the repair. I said that I thought it would be covered under the powertrain warranty, and the guy said "no it isn't covered."
is he feeding me BS? Under the 5 year, 100k mile warranty, the GM website says
<dl><dt>Transmission/Transaxle/Transfer Case</dt><dd>Case, all internal lubricated parts, torque converter, transfer case, transmission/transaxle mounts, transmission/transaxle mounts, seals and gaskets.</dd></dl>
Wouldn't the seal be in this classification? My Tahoe has a year left under the powertrain warranty and many thousand miles left.