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Leaky Transmission?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Phish Phood, Dec 5, 2006.

  1. Phish Phood

    Phish Phood New Member

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    I have a 2006 Pkg #7 Prius that I purchased in February.. I recently took it in for its 30k maintenance (yes, I drive about 100 miles a day) and my service advisor told me there was a small transmission leak coming from the driver's side axle. Transmission leak?! The car is only 10 months old--granted it has gone 30,000 miles. Is this normal? I'm a day commuter in LA and my car has been in for every 5k service and switched to synthetic oil at 10k miles. I questioned the service advisor at Longo Toyota about this and he stated that he had done a few seal repairs on some Prii and brushed it off like it was something he had seen a few times. He didn't understand why I was worried because it is covered under the Powertrain warranty (good for 60k miles, 100k miles since I have the extended warranty). Should I be worried, or is this just something small and simple and.. it happens? I'm already in the shop every 6 weeks doing an oil change.. I'd rather not be there for major repairs in the near future. Please advise. :)
     
    #1 Phish Phood, Dec 5, 2006
  2. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    I think the service department is right in this case. Just let them fix it under warranty and it should be OK. If it leaks again, after they fix it, then worry.
     
    #2 tumbleweed, Dec 5, 2006
  3. cbs4

    cbs4 Member

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    There is another post about this in the Care & Maintenance forum.

    I would guess that it is the Left Output Shaft Seal. I discovered the same leak that you have described on my 2006 pkg 8 Prius, beginning at only around 9,000 miles. It was just a drop then. Not knowing what it was, I photographed the area, cleaned it up thoroughly, and then checked again while doing the next oil change. Same leak, only worse. I had the seal replaced under warranty.

    Here are the numbers from the repair order:

    90311-35054 Seal, Type T Oil

    00289-ATFWS World Standard Automatic Trans Oil

    (Concerned about "auto trans", I reverified that the dealer installed the correct fluid for the Hybrid)

    A different type part number is listed under the repair portion:

    20756 Seal

    The labor operation code appears to be: 369991


    The last thing I expected from a Prius was to find oil pollution on the ground, but there it was.

    I thought it was a fluke to our car, but after reading of several other owners with the same issue, I'm beginning to think this left ouput seal leakage is more common, and that Prius owners are well advised to be on the look out for it.
     
    #3 cbs4, Dec 20, 2006
  4. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    axle seals are typically maintenance items around the 70k+ mark, so this is something that warranty should take care of no problem. and if it is done properly it should last you quite a while. -if it's done properly.- there are lots of oil seal shortcuts. DH replaced his valve cover gasket in his camry last summer, though it was done somewhere else less than a year before previous to our buying it- because it began to leak from some tech making a shortcut.

    the key is they are maintenance items. all oil seals do eventually need to be replaced. they get old, they leak, this happens on all cars. same reason you replace gaskets in your engine from time to time, they are not expected to last the lifetime of the car.

    a major repair would only be necessary if you were to ignore any problems like this.
     
    #4 galaxee, Dec 26, 2006
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