I have a question about my 02 z06. a year ago i had a leak from the left rear end seal. they fixed it and i drove about a year with
no leaks. Recently i noticed a small drip again. It's on the left side again, but it's difficult to tell exactly where. Mechanic at chevy says
it may be from overflow breather on top of rear-end and it drips down. why has it not happened for a year and now begins. also
is this breather just a small hole, or how does it work. Mechanic suggested to drive at fluid level lower then it was to lessen temp/pressure. I thought this would increase pressure. In any case i have driven it a little and seems no leak with lower fluid level.
I'm concerned it may get too low. If it's a seal it should still drip at any level should it not, and if it is the breather it should not empty out to a dangerous level??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

a simple answer would be, over time the fluid does thicken up a little especially in the first year, that combined with the heat of summer might cause it. but I'll check as soon as i get home to find out what else it could be then i'll get back to you. [sm=americanasmiley.gif]

 

I just finished researching the manual and assuming that the leak is not comming from the seals the only other place would be the transmission vent tube, it is actually connected to the transmission on the left side, then the tube runs rearward then upward to a level above the transmission. it is pretty much just a tube with a vented end cap, but if it gets clogged or obstructed in any way, presure builds up in the tranny forcing fluid up into the tube ond then out on to the ground. ( drive down any dirt roads lately ). aside from that there is no other place it could be leaking from, unless of course you have a crack in the tranny but that would be extream and you would notice a lot more fluid if that was the case. so check to make sure it not the seal then have the vent tube taken out, cleaned out then replaced.



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thank you for response. do i understand you correctly when you say
that the overflow tube comes from tranny and it may be tranny (6spd)
dropping fluid? i was under impression the overflow breather was for the
rear end only and came out of the top of the rear end. the std trans on
z06 i thought was completely enclosed. if not then i may have more problems since it seems it's leaking out of the rear end.
yes you are right if seals on rear end and tranny are good then there is
no way to drop fluid other than thru overflow. i wonder how common this is? do you know if rear-end or tranny gets too low a warning will be issued? thanks again.

js

 

Yes the vent tube comes off of the tranny, but the tube goes to the rear, so if it was leaking it would appear to be comming from the transaxle. sorry to say but no there is no tranny fluid level sensor, just a tranny fulid temp sensor. you have to jack up the car and check the site hole. there is also a vent hole in the transaxle, works the same as the tranny one. the tranny vent tube is by the reverse lockout solenoid. good luck




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bmwdriver, i know i dont know much about mechanics, but are you saying a z06 has a transaxle, and that the fluid in the manual trans
is the same as the fluid in the rear end?? you suggest this by saying the overflow flows from the trans into the rear ?? i,m not saying
your wrong, BUT the chevy mechanics must be using a different repair manual. did i misunderstand your previous post?? Thanks.

 

sorry for the confussion, no they are 2 different systems, it is referred to as a transaxle because the tranny bolts directly to the rear axle assembly instead of the engine as with a normal vehicle. the vent tube for the transmission extends backwards and up so if it were to leak it would drip down the left side of the rear axle appearing to be from the axle. but if you can see the leak and tell its rear differental fluid and not manual transmission fluid check the breather hole in the rear differental. on another note, it also does not have a drive shaft, it has a tube called a torque tube, its larger in diameter than a conventional drive shaft and connects the engine to the tranny.




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I had the same thing happen with my 02 ZO6 and it turned out to be nothing - no bad seals, etc. My mechanic said it probably got overfilled slightly -- some people fill it as full as they can and the stuff expands slightly as it gets hot. Anyway, I just left it a.lone and it stopped leaking and that was two years and 14000 hard miles ago.