Red Fluid on garage floor!
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Red Fluid on garage floor!
Greetings all! Just wanted to know if anyone has had rack and pinion or axle seal issues on their GXP'*? A couple of months ago I had to replace my rack and pinion box. I had been losing power steering fluid for awhile but I also noticed red fluid under my car so I thought it was either power steering fluid or the transmission was leaking. I thought both of these fluids were red so I wasn't sure which it was. After a garage looked at it he said the tranny was not leaking but the rack and pinion was. The Pontiac folks said it was the R & P as well and eventually I had the R & P replaced. Then about a month ago I still had red fluid leaking. Another garage I went to said my left side axle seal was leaking and he showed me the boot where the red fluid was coming from. The right side was dry. So I replaced the axle seal there and thought all was well. All the places I went to said the tranny was fine including Pontiac. So my question is this; I have replaced the R &P and the axle seal....what else could be leaking this red fluid? When they replaced the axle seal, they noticed the ATF was low so this corroborated the fact that there was a leak from the axle seal since that uses ATF. I am at a loss as to where this could be coming from. The tranny pan is dry. Could it be the transmission lines?
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Re: Red Fluid on garage floor!
Originally Posted by obis88
Greetings all! Just wanted to know if anyone has had rack and pinion or axle seal issues on their GXP'*? A couple of months ago I had to replace my rack and pinion box. I had been losing power steering fluid for awhile but I also noticed red fluid under my car so I thought it was either power steering fluid or the transmission was leaking. I thought both of these fluids were red so I wasn't sure which it was. After a garage looked at it he said the tranny was not leaking but the rack and pinion was. The Pontiac folks said it was the R & P as well and eventually I had the R & P replaced. Then about a month ago I still had red fluid leaking. Another garage I went to said my left side axle seal was leaking and he showed me the boot where the red fluid was coming from. The right side was dry. So I replaced the axle seal there and thought all was well. All the places I went to said the tranny was fine including Pontiac. So my question is this; I have replaced the R &P and the axle seal....what else could be leaking this red fluid? When they replaced the axle seal, they noticed the ATF was low so this corroborated the fact that there was a leak from the axle seal since that uses ATF. I am at a loss as to where this could be coming from. The tranny pan is dry. Could it be the transmission lines?
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I think some GXP owners have had problems with transmission and oil lines. You would have to do some searches on this forum. It is ATF fluid and not Dex cool , correct?
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Yes it is ATF
We found the problem! After a thorough search, we saw that the transmission line on the left side when it goes around the transmission case had been rubbing against the case and had created a small pinhole. These lines should not be against the transmission case or rubbing against anything. Not sure if the guy who replaced the rack and pinion didn't align the lines right or it was made that way but that is where it was leaking out. I brought it to a Pontiac dealer last night and they will correct the problem hopefully. Not sure if they have to replace the lines or can solder something in there to close that hole. But I hope they do something to pull it away from the trans case. Metal rubbing on metal is not very wise! The car has 65,000 miles on it so I think I am out of the warranty period. Not sure if the engine/transmission are covered for a longer period or if these lines are even part of that coverage, but I think it should be. I'll let you know on the cost. Had to get a rental in the meantime.
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