Pulled into parking lot at work this morning and apparently several of the axle bolts snapped and now axle appears to twisted away from the transmission held on by maybe 1 or 2 bolts. There was a trail of transmission fluid to the spot I parked it. I can't see much as I am at work. I'm leaking fluid....how bad could this be??
2002 Jetta 5 speed cv axle broke free - HELP
- Thread starter TdiRN
- Start date
oilhammer
Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Nobody can tell you until it is up on a lift and inspected.
Tdijarhead
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2013
- Location
- Lawrenceville PA
- TDI
- 2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Common issue, likely whoever worked on it last didn't tighten those axle bolts properly.
Mongler98
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2011
- Location
- COLORADO (SE of Denver)
- TDI
- 98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
If its leaking fluid there is no fixing it unless it's in a shop or garage. Hopefully it's just the seal but to replace it it not so simple as most cv axles the hub needs to come out and that's not a small task. Either way the trans might have to come out can you diy repairs or is this a toe tow to a shop for you? We have a list of trusted mechanics by state
oilhammer
Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Hope that wasn't the same shop that left the CV bolts loose!
steve6
Veteran Member
Make sure you keep an eye on if its leaking, if you let it get low it will burn up 5th gear
Andyinchville1
Veteran Member
Just curious but are there any symptoms that happen prior to the 5th gear going out? .... by burn up do you literally mean smoking?
I need to check my oil too I guess ( I'm thinking one of the dangers of the plastic undercarriage tray is that it could catch a lot of oil before you know there's a problem without it if you see drips under the car as you walk to the car so you know something's up
Thanks
STDOUBT
Veteran Member
And if you remove your belly pan, all kinds of crap gets flung into your engine bay, and your ferrous bits start rusting out (turbo actuator, some pulleys, A/C case etc. etc.). Keep your belly pan and side skirts ON. Much easier to simply keep an eye on your oil level through occasional use of the dipstick.
Andyinchville1
Veteran Member
Hi
I agree with the idea of keeping the belly pan on ......it does seem to keep the engine compartment a lot cleaner than any of my other vehicles because they have no belly pan... on the other hand I think since my Jetta is the only one that does not leak oil probably has a lot to do with engine cleanliness also.
The engine oil isn't bad to check on occasion because of the dipstick it's the transmission I wish it was easier to check for oil levels on ( no dipstick).
Not that my car currently leaks but I'm just paranoid if it starts leaking at some point unexpectedly the belly pan would catch so much fluid that I could be damaging something without knowing it ....
Maybe a good compromise would be to drill a hole at the lowest point of the belly pan that way it would least drip fluid if things started leaking yet be small enough not to let alot of debris into the engine compartment?
Something I never thought to do was to look inside the engine compartment after driving in the rain to see if the belly pan fills with water and how water actually escapes.... I don't recall seeing a factory hole in the belly pan to let water drip out ....