Who can explain the axle seals in the transaxle? I have '09 SS w/auto. I pulled the passenger axle out and saw the seal with a small puddle of ATF behind it as expected. I pulled the driver's axle and found no ATF whatsoever. It looked like the splines had some coating of paste or grease on them instead of ATF. And the axle wasn't shiny like it had been bathing in ATF for thousands of miles. Does the driver's axle splines not get ATF lubrication?

(Note, the trans is OEM. It's not low on oil and performs perfectly as designed).

Thanks in advance!
M Ridzon

 

#7 is a thrust washer. #6 & #5 are gaskets.

 

I will have to take pictures and come back here to show what I've got because my setup does not look like what I've found on Google or other ChevyHHR.net threads.

Standby.

 

 

Yes, I just have the OEM 4-speed automatic.

I took some pictures of my axles and transmission.
Below are pictures of the driver's side. I can't understand why it appears to be bone dry with no ATF lubrication. The seal doesn't appear to be holding ATF in the transmission, since there's no ATF behind it.







Passenger side is below. It looks as expected; i.e., wet with ATF, shiny from the seal riding on the axle and its constant oil bath. So why doesn't driver's side look like this?
Are there any special concerns for the stub shaft shown below? Should I worry about changing its internal seal to the tripod joint? It didn't previously leak, so should I expect to have any problems with the stub shaft seal?

 

I think you are looking at it backwards. The passenger side seal is bad.

 

x2 what Don said.

 

I agree about the seal, but doesn't explain a dry rusty shaft.

 

No, the passenger side seal is not bad. The residue you see is from a bigger mess that I will be informing the forum of a little later. That seal is fine, but left and right seals will both be replaced as part of this project.

Exactly! I'm trying to understand the story behind the driver's (left) seal. Any thoughts? Shouldn't there be ATF on it?

Do I need to be concerned with the stub shaft seal? That is, the hidden seal between the tripod joint and the stub shaft? Again, there was no ATF leakage at this part of the car; the residue you see there is part of a separate problem. But is it standard practice to tear off the stub shaft and replace its seal or do they typically give no issues?