Aargh! Got 100 miles into a 200 mile trip and my '03 D2 started vibrating. Pulled over. Had it towed home. Figured it was either bearings, axle or transaxle (in order of severity). Just pulled the plug on the front transaxle. Bone dry. I had serviced and replenished it about 5,000 miles ago and it was topped off.

Current plan is to refill the fluid and see if it sounds any better. I guess I should probably flush it first. Check for leaks. I've put a couple hundred hours of sweat equity into this thing. Failing the quick fix of refilling the transaxle ... how bad of a job is it to replace the transaxle gears?

Thanks.

 

My apologies. Its the differential that is empty. Wrong term.

 

Hour or two to swap in a new/used Diff. It is not to bad to do.

 

You can drain and fill and see what it sounds like, but also check your front drive shaft U Joints... Having to turn a dry differential is an added stress and could lead to damage which would also cause noise.

 

Found a used front differential on eBay. I'll have it by next weekend.

I am seeing differental oil weeping out of the wheel hub on the driver's side. I replaced the axle on that side two summers ago when I replaced all the steering components. Guessing that's my problem. I recall not liking the designed metal-to-metal seal (no gasket) on the axle. This time I may try to put some form of gasket material in there and see if that fixes things. I am open to suggestions.

 

do mean the wheel hub? there's supposed to be an o-ring in a groove around the outside of it. the o-ring doesn't come with the replacement hubs. #2 here:

 

That may well be the culprit. Ordering some now. Thank you.

 

i recently had the same issue; apparently a previous owner left out the o-ring when changing a hub. i didn't notice it until i serviced the diff and filled it to the proper level. adding the o-ring stopped the leak completely.

 

The illustration you posted is for the rear axles. My issue is with the front. Rather than the O Ring I need to order the axle shaft seal. Thanks for putting me in the right direction. Only clarified in case someone comes along with the same problem and uses this string as a resource.