Guys, help! My friend and I were working on his 2012 Chevy Sonic, changing the passenger-side strut. After removing the stabilizer bar end link (where the top of the link bolts to the strut), the ABS line, and the brake line (both have rubber grommets that press into fittings on the strut), we took out the the two large bolts that secure the strut to the steering knuckle. The knuckle flopped out to the side, still hinged at the bottom to the ball joint/LCA and tie-rod end. Pretty normal I thought.
A few seconds later my friend noticed that there was ATF spilling onto the driveway. What the ... ???? I crawled under and found that the driveshaft had pulled out of the tranny when the knuckle flopped outwards. I pushed it back into place, the leaking stopped, and we reinstalled everything. (We were a bit freaked out, it's getting on in the day, and we want to make sure things are OK with the tranny before doing any other work.)
My questions:
Is it likely I did any damage to the seal when the driveshaft popped out of the tranny? It seemed to go back in fine. The car was not running at the time, so I presume this leakage was from the "axle" part of the transaxle, and is not under pressure. We have not run the car yet. I guess we need to top up the fluid and then check for leaks before doing a road test.
To confound things, the car does not have a dipstick. There is a fill cap on the tranny, but unfortunately I don't know how much we lost. I would guess between half a quart and a full quart.
Any advice much appreciated!
A few seconds later my friend noticed that there was ATF spilling onto the driveway. What the ... ???? I crawled under and found that the driveshaft had pulled out of the tranny when the knuckle flopped outwards. I pushed it back into place, the leaking stopped, and we reinstalled everything. (We were a bit freaked out, it's getting on in the day, and we want to make sure things are OK with the tranny before doing any other work.)
My questions:
Is it likely I did any damage to the seal when the driveshaft popped out of the tranny? It seemed to go back in fine. The car was not running at the time, so I presume this leakage was from the "axle" part of the transaxle, and is not under pressure. We have not run the car yet. I guess we need to top up the fluid and then check for leaks before doing a road test.
To confound things, the car does not have a dipstick. There is a fill cap on the tranny, but unfortunately I don't know how much we lost. I would guess between half a quart and a full quart.
Any advice much appreciated!