Left side rear axle seal leaking?

[Greg C]

I have a 2000 C5 Roadster with about 9000 miles on it (bought it 2 1/2 years ago with only 1234 miles on it).......anyway, took the car up to Mackinaw City, MI. for the annual Corvette Crossroads (I live in Ann Arbor, MI.), came home, parked it in the garage 4 days later pull;ed the car out to clean it and noticed a small puddle (about 3 inches in diameter) of trans axle fliud (almost clear looking) under the rear end. Put the car up on the lift today and it looks like it is slowly leaking from where the left axle shaft goes in to the trans/axle.
I called a friend of mine who works at the GM Proving grounds (he working on the C5 Project) and told me there have been problems with the axle shaft seal leaking. He thinks there is a fix, replacing the double lip seal with a triple lip seal, and also replacing the left trans/axle cover "o" ring with a new one and using lock tite on the cover flange..........has anyone else run into this? Am going to call the Chevy dealer and make an appointment to get the problem fixed and i just want to make sure I know what I am talking about when I do take it in........(the Vett has an extended warr. in it). Thanks.......

PS: guess so far I have been lucky with the C5, this is my first problem (not counting the colume lock recall)

 

[jwawhite]

Greg, I have the same problem and I've asked on this board also. No reply yet.
The local Dealer says the shop has done about 150. A common problem?

 

[MsSchroder]

There have been several threads in the past about leaking axle seals. I don't have any first hand info, but I did a search, and turned up some threads that might help you out. It sounds like a fairly common problem.

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67777
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38899
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36497
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15016

Tammy

 

[6 Shooter]

Leaky Differential Seal Problem . . .

 

[Paul T]

I have a 2000 C5 Roadster with about 9000 miles on it (bought it 2 1/2 years ago with only 1234 miles on it).......anyway, took the car up to Mackinaw City, MI. for the annual Corvette Crossroads (I live in Ann Arbor, MI.), came home, parked it in the garage 4 days later pull;ed the car out to clean it and noticed a small puddle (about 3 inches in diameter) of trans axle fliud (almost clear looking) under the rear end. Put the car up on the lift today and it looks like it is slowly leaking from where the left axle shaft goes in to the trans/axle.
I called a friend of mine who works at the GM Proving grounds (he working on the C5 Project) and told me there have been problems with the axle shaft seal leaking. He thinks there is a fix, replacing the double lip seal with a triple lip seal, and also replacing the left trans/axle cover "o" ring with a new one and using lock tite on the cover flange..........has anyone else run into this? Am going to call the Chevy dealer and make an appointment to get the problem fixed and i just want to make sure I know what I am talking about when I do take it in........(the Vett has an extended warr. in it). Thanks.......

PS: guess so far I have been lucky with the C5, this is my first problem (not counting the colume lock recall)

This is a well known C5 problem. I just had the problem on my 2003 AE at about 24,000 miles. The mechanic at my dealership has done several of these repairs and he was able to complete mine in one day's work. I'm glad it was still under warranty and this is probably not a cheap repair. Hasn't leaked since and I've put another 5000 miles on it. Good luck with your repair.
Paul