I am new to the forums and tried searching with no luck so I apologize in advance if this has already been covered.

That being said, I have what I think to be a bit of a strange issue. I was attempting to change my passenger side front lower control arm which I found is a little more in depth than I could do at the time. In the process I had removed the wheel/tire, strut, and associated suspension parts. During that time, the weight of the brake rotot caused the cv axle to slip out of where it connects to what I think is a transaxle. When that happend, thick brown oil (which I think is gear oil) got all over the shop floor. What I need to know is: 1. Was that oil supposed to be in there? 2. If yes, how do I get it back in? If no, is it from the tranny and is there a seal that needs to be replaced?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

You probably pulled the axle out of the transaxle. It is common for fluid to come out. I would say to reassemble everything as it was. Take care putting the axle back in it's splines. Check the seal where the axles goes into the transaxle, make sure you did not damage it. After you put everything back together, I would say you should change the oil in the unit, since you say the oil is thick/brown. I am just going on your description so you should check and recheck everything before you put it all back together, you are responsible for your own vehicle/work. Good luck.

 

Thank you for your response. I need to know how to get the gear oil back into the cv axle boot though. If it was grease that would be easy but it seems that it needs to be injected somehow because there is no fill and drain port. Everything went back together fairly easily but I have no clue how to reoil the transaxle end of the cv axle.

 

You simply need to add some fluid back to your transmission. When you pulled out the axle shaft you opened it up. There probably is an o ring on the axle shaft. The fluid did not come from the CV boot which contains a thick grease. Click the link below to see how to add fluid. As you say the fluid was dark, you may as well change it. 4 quarts vs 1.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...ial-plugs.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...nt-rx400h.html