[motorrod]

I just finished replacing the transaxle on my 2011 MT Soul. The axles I only put a few hundred miles on before the transaxle swap. I had a differential with busted bearings and ended up methodically replacing every part of the drivetrain starting with the axles. Everthing seemed fine until i started smelling the obvious odor of transmission oil. It would usually come after running for a while. I got under the car to find my passenger side axle (the long one) leaking oil from the transmission. Is there a seal there? How hard is it to replace? I can't seem to find the part on rockauto. Thanks

 

[gr8pumpkin]

These should be the seals I believe.


https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2010/kia/soul/transmission/drive_axle_seal.html

 

[Somerville99*]

I've never heard of a transaxle without seals. Do you remember any when you did the breakdown?

 

[motorrod]

Yup that's them, I called around today and found some in stock at a dealer about an hr away. I made the trip, pulled the R Axle the old seal and spent a while tapping the new one in. The seal looked aged but not really catastrophically damaged. The parts dept rep added that he did a similar job and his seal leaked without looking too bad as well. I made sure the seal was in flat, plugged the axle in then put in a quart of 75w-90. Dropped the car down to level and added another quart. (Online sources say 1.8L manual says 2.0 L). No leaks. I went for a test run down the road and everything seemed fine. After an hour or so of driving at night (of course) I get paranoid and check once more and find more oil all over the dogbone. I tilt the light up to see oil leaking again probably from the right side axle seal again. I spent a while tapping on it and the metal inner may not have been completely flat. I've got it back up on jackstands again...... I'll check when theres daylight tomorrow to see if i need to replace the axle seal again. Pics: Of old seal and almost fully tapped in new one. https://ibb.co/dHFS7c
https://ibb.co/jLXktH

 

[GeoSoul]

Good luck motorrod. How many miles on your Soul? Are you the original owner? Kudos for tackling this leak man.

 

[motorrod]

Thanks, I've got just over 105k on it now. I replaced the transmission at 103k. I know if I dont fix this leak the transaxle/transmission will be toast. I hope its just the seal not sitting flat.

 

[grege]

motorrod,

That seals looks "toasted"! Seems you've got it sorted out. I hope it behaves for you. Well done!

Greg