hello, i've got a 4 door 2006 Cobalt with a 2.2 engine and a manual transmission. while doing an oil change on it last weekend, i checked the axles for play and noticed some up and down movement where the axles go into the transmission on both the drivers side and passengers side. now I reolize the axes are supposed to have in and out play but not up and down play.

Just wondering would my problem be fixed by just simply replacing the axles? or is my problem more serious than that?

any hep would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

they will have a little up and down, its normal. if it gets excessive the axle seal will start to leak. causes of excessive axle play can be wear in the diff carrier or a bad differential carrier bearing. the axle is not likely to wear, its hardened steel, the differential it rides in is cast iron, the diff will wear because its softer.

 

I think im having the same problem. I have a 06. When I start off from zero and accelerate my from right tire shakes. But when I left off the gas it stops, and when I give it more gas it shakes again. I put it on a lift and notice leaking around the right axle. I was told I needed to replace the axle seal?

 

You might as well start looking for a new trans or at least some one that can pull it and replace the diff. Just had the same problem with my cobalt. When I pulled the trans and cracked the case open the spider gears and bearings were worn out. So I decided to upgrade to a Lsd. If you continue to drive it like that your diff will eventual lock up and blow the trans case to peices

 

I think i fixed it. I recently had to replace the studs in the hud assembly and come to find out the wheel bearing was going bad causing it to shake going down the rode. Put a new one on about and hour ago. Took it down the road and it quit shaking. And when you replace it you have to pull on the axle and the hub to get it off so I thinking some fluid got out from around it but I may be wrong. My shift points are good. So hard shifts or miss shifts or anything.

 

I may be getting some new trans parts on warranty soon. My passenger axle seal has been leaking and it's been replaced 3 times now under warranty and still leaks. Gotta be an internal problem from the looks of it. Hello warranty.

Also I've been asking and posting around about this problem and all of a sudden people are popping up with similar problems. I really hate how the F23 trans uses a one piece axle on the passenger side all the way out to the hub. So dumb. It should have an intermediate shaft with a carrier bearing like the SS model does. Stupid engineers.

I really wish there was a company that would come up with a conversion axle to switch over to a two piece axle.

 

I have an axle seal leak on the drivers side aswell but its so tiny i havent done anything about it. I have an 06 ss/sc

 

all the intermediate shaft really does is help reduce torque steer. anything that the f23 is bolted to in stock form doesnt make enough power to have bad torque steer, so its really not needed.

 

When you lower the car though the axle isn't straight anymore causing some downward pressure at the transmission where the axle goes in. That can potentially cause wear on the internal parts. with an intermediate shaft it stays straight out to the carrier bearing the way it should.

 

thats not really a problem. think about the drivers side, it puts the same load on the differential and doesnt create problems. the longer axle actually has a plus when lowering, and that is the driveline angle doesnt increase nearly as much as a shorter axle, keeping the axle from binding.

 

That makes sense to me and normally I would agree with this. The only reason I'm saying what I did is because the particular problem I'm having with my car.

Gone through 4 axle seals on the passenger side within 2 or 3 months. All done on warranty by a guy that I know and I trust his work. Axle looks fine, no burs or scratches or worn areas. Axle play seems normal. No abnormal looking scratches or cracks in the tranny case. Used all the special installer tools GM provides to install the seal and axle. Still leaks. What is causing the leak? A worn part in the transmission is my guess. It started leaking at around 64,000 miles. Why did something wear out so soon? because lowering it? or because the part just plain wore out weather the car is lowered or not?

That is the quest I'm on I guess. lol

 

diff is probably on the way out. good luck, the trans should not eat axle seals like that.