Toyota Sienna CV Half Shaft Issue

[Sluggo0018]

My 2006 Toyota Sienna LE AWD has 203,000 miles. Yesterday I changed the passenger side ball joint. It fought me the whole way. I had to basically grind it out. Eventually, I got it replaced. I took it for a test ride and all was good for the first few hundred yards. After that, the tranny was completely slipping and there were very bad noises coming from that area. I put it in neutral (in retrospect, I should have shut it off to stop the transmission fluid pump) and was able to coast back to my driveway. I saw that I had leaked tranny fluid the entire route. When I jacked up the front end, I saw that the passenger side CV half shaft has pulled out from the transfer case/transmission by roughly 1-2 inches. All my fluid had escaped through this opening. During my man handling of the ball joint, I must have put too much outward pressure on the half shaft and caused it to come out. See photo:

Not sure how to proceed next. I am planning to remove the hub nut and take out the half shaft to inspect the inboard end for damage and to see if the circ-clip still is in place. If all looks good, I will try to re-insert the half shaft and refill the transmission fluid and see how it goes from there. I've got a few questions if anyone has experience with this issue.


1. Is the half shaft held in by circ-clips? Are they re-usable? How are they re-inserted into the transmission? On my old VW Golf, they just needed a little force to overcome the clip and lock in place. Same here?


2. Do you think I did major transmission damage in the 1/4 mile and 5 minutes that the vehicle was run? If the tranny is trashed, I might as well stop now.


3. How much transmission fluid should I add initially? I have no idea how much leaked out. I do know when I have performed drains and fills in the past, I got out a little more than 4 quarts.


Any other words of wisdom for me? I am a little bummed out right now. After having recently changed the front and rear shocks, drive shaft U joints, timing belt, radiator, etc., I was hoping to keep this vehicle running for another 1-2 years, but if I blew the tranny, it is probably time to say goodbye.


Thanks for any help that you can provide.

 

[Trav]

I doubt the tranny is trashed, if anything just the very end of the output shaft got a bit of a haircut and possibly the seal got damaged.
Pull the shaft, inspect the output shaft splines, if there is any sort of damage on the end you my need to use a file, its easy to do but you need to take some precautions to prevent file dust from getting in there, post back if this is the case.
Inspect the seal if its soft and not cut don't mess with it, inspect the half shaft for spline damage. as long as the shaft goes in without binding you should be okay.
Add a qt at a time then check, go from there.

It looks like the AWD uses no snap ring like the 2WD but check this out, I never did one so I can only go by Alldata

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

With that kind of corrosion, you might not have another year or two.With the half-shaft that far out of the differential, the splines must be almost all the way out of the spider gear.It's just a light wire ring, not a snap ring.

 

[JC1]

Your Tranny has a dipstick so check the level that way.

As Trav mentioned, check the splines on the shaft and see what the damage is. Hopefully you got lucky and it can fit back in.

 

[Sluggo0018]

Thanks for all of the advice.

I removed the half shaft. The inboard splines looked good. Maybe a slight bevel at the end, but no significant damage. I am guessing that the bevel is from the manufacturer. So I greased up the end to help keep the circ clip centered and reinstalled the half shaft. I am not sure if I have it fully seated. There is still a 1/8 inch gap between the flange and the tranny that I cannot close. It is difficult to compress the inner cv joint while hammering on the outside end. if the inner joint is not fully compressed, the hammer blows do nothing. Yes, I put the axle nut back on to keep from buggering up the threads. Take a look at this photo and let me know if you think it is fully inserted.



I am thinking that it is in, but I didn't notice how big the gap was before starting this job and the other side of the vehicle is a totally different design. How hard can I hit the outside end without damaging the joints or tranny. I have been doing my best to keep the joints straight and centered during the install.

Regarding the fluid, I guess that I will initially add four quarts and then start checking the level. From what I recall on this vehicle, the engine needs to be running when I check the fluid level on the dipstick. I believe that the tranny is pumping fluid whenever the car is running, so I would like to get some fluid in there before checking. I don't want to let the pump run dry.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Trav]

It looks seated from what I can see. Try it out.

 

[Sluggo0018]

I got this info from a Toyota Sienna forum.

12. REMOVE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT ASSY RH (4WD DRIVE TYPE)
HINT:
Overhaul the RH side by the same procedures as the LH side.
NOTICE:
When removing and installing the front drive shaft assy RH in the 4WD vehicle, drain all the
transaxle oil and transfer oil. If the removal and installation is performed without draining these
oils, the transfer oil will flow into the transaxle side, which will mix these 2 different oils. In this
case, cleaning the inside of the transaxle and the transfer is required.
Do not damage the oil seal and dust cover.

Sounds like a problem. Cleaning the inside of the two cases sounds like a big deal. Do you think that a few simple drain and fills might accomplish the same thing?

 

[FlyNavyP3]

I wouldn't start with a full 4 quarts. I'd probably start with 2-3. A transmission doesn't have to be significantly low to slip, also over filling is harmful. Better safe than sorry. I'd wager to guess that all is well now. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Sluggo0018
I got this info from a Toyota Sienna forum.

12. REMOVE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT ASSY RH (4WD DRIVE TYPE)
HINT:
Overhaul the RH side by the same procedures as the LH side.
NOTICE:
When removing and installing the front drive shaft assy RH in the 4WD vehicle, drain all the
transaxle oil and transfer oil. If the removal and installation is performed without draining these
oils, the transfer oil will flow into the transaxle side, which will mix these 2 different oils. In this
case, cleaning the inside of the transaxle and the transfer is required.
Do not damage the oil seal and dust cover.

Sounds like a problem. Cleaning the inside of the two cases sounds like a big deal. Do you think that a few simple drain and fills might accomplish the same thing?


What problem? anything that could have fallen which would be next to nothing was flushed out by the escaping fluid. Don't overthink this.

 

[FlyNavyP3]

I think he's referring to the transmission having ingested transfer fluid while the half shaft was out of its home. To the OP if you're concerned if just do a drain and fill on both parts at short interval a few times to ensure cleanliness and fluid separation.

 

[Sluggo0018]

Progress update:

Yesterday I drained the transmission pan and got almost 3 quarts out. Didn't notice any of the thicker transfer case fluid in the ATF. Not sure if it would have mixed together or stayed separate. I refilled the tranny with new fluid. It needed roughly 5 quarts to reach the full mark. Seems to be operating just fine. No slipping and no leaking. Wife took the vehicle to work today. Hopefully all will go well. I didn't have time yesterday to drain and refill the transfer case fluid. I will take care of that job shortly.

Thanks for all of your help guys.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Sluggo0018
Progress update:

Yesterday I drained the transmission pan and got almost 3 quarts out. Didn't notice any of the thicker transfer case fluid in the ATF. Not sure if it would have mixed together or stayed separate. I refilled the tranny with new fluid. It needed roughly 5 quarts to reach the full mark. Seems to be operating just fine. No slipping and no leaking. Wife took the vehicle to work today. Hopefully all will go well. I didn't have time yesterday to drain and refill the transfer case fluid. I will take care of that job shortly.

Thanks for all of your help guys.


Glad to hear that its ok!

 

[FlyNavyP3]

Sluggo glad to hear that all is well especially with all of your recent work. Hopefully it continues to provide your family with reliable service. I'm fairly certain corrosion will be the death of your poor Toyota before another malfunction. How many miles or how many more years of service are you hoping to get?