Manual transmission leaking around axle

As the title says. I was changing my oil yesterday and noticed what appears to be a small leak around where my driver side axle goes into the transmission. (This is the short axle for a reference)
It is really cold right now, so I am not to interested in digging around under my car to see if this is happening on the other side as well. I have noticed that while it's cold my car hates shifting through the gears, but is otherwise fine. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary when driving the car after it has had time to warm up. The rest is just normal cold weather issues. I will try to look next week and get better pictures, I'm just looking for thoughts at this point it time. The axle seems well set into place and I don't see how it could just pop out, But I haven't been able to rule that out completely as of yet.

Any opinions on what to look for are very welcome and appreciated, I will post more when I know more.

Sounds like an axle seal. if that's the only area the leak is coming from. check your trans fluid level (probably won't be too low if the leak isn't bad.) But if it only looks like its coming from where the axle enters the trans, then my money is on an axle seal. If that's the case, remove axle, replace seal, reinstall axle, check and add trans fluid if needed, have a beer (pepsi if under 21) and stay warm :)

Lol, If it's an axle seal it's due to cold weather making it brittle, kinda sucks but doesn't sound horribly expensive. I think I will just check the fluid in the near future and wait for warmer weather to change it. now to hunt up the age old debate of what fluid to use in the transmission. at 40,000 miles and I drive my poor aveo a little hard sometimes, I might as well change it atleast once. oh I gotta price that timing belt and water pump verry soon too :|

As long as you put 75W90 in it, you're golden.

Now for someone to say no this oil is better. If opinions of gear oil are going to pop up, please keep in mind I live in iowa, temperatures range from around -20F to 110F those are the extremes, but I like to keep it covered.

oil changes viscosity(how fluid it is) and when its cold the oil for your transmission is very thick making it not want to shift, let the car warm up or just drive the car it doesnt hurt anything...

Unless your axle seals are junk

the cold may have had something to do with it.. cold oil too thick might over pressure the seal..

Heh, now that's something I had not considered and will save me money. How does the transmission warm up on a car, don't seem to me a manual sitting in neutral would have much to warm it up.

you could try a block heater of some type? do they still make the oil pan wrap style?

the diff where your seal is leaking is near the block. if it is pressure related and not torn.. then just let it warm up a little longer, neutral would turn the input shaft, so there isnt much more you can do.. without combustion, the tranny should not heat up like the engine anyhow.

with those two extremes, i would consider a viscosity change in winter..

I am not about to change my tranny oil every winter. . . to much money and hassle. It will be cheaper to just top it off once in a while.

Well even with the car in neutral, the input and gear shafts of the trans are always spinning when the engine is running. That movement will eventually be enough to warm up the trans a little bit. just let it warm up the way you would let the heat warm up before you drive (unless you wake up late for work, which I've done like 3 times this week)

Lol, I unfortunately don't let my car warm up as much as I should. I am trying to solve that issue now though.

Hello All
Took My 2009 manual transmission aveo to the dealer saturday and the same issue was found with my drivers side shaft. They are ordering the axle seal and replacing it under the warranty. FYI I have 87K Miles. Otherwise I have had good luck with this car so far. Will keep everyone updated

Talked with the dealer yesterday. They have the axle seal but are having problems finding an O Ring. I am not Amused

I got the O ring but no the seals. I was supposed to call them today, but don't have my car due to getting the timing belt done so no point. The O-ring has to come in from Korea, but the seals are made here in the USA

The dealer still does not have the oring. supposedly it only comes in a bag of ten. They have a Spat out on it whatever that code means

If you get the ten, you won't need anymore for a while ;)

If I have to use ten i am in trouble. It is under warranty still so the dealer has to get the 10

Tell them it is a common issue and having 10 will save them time in the future.

I took my car in to have the driver's side axle seal replaced. Only 2500km on it as of today, hopefully this isn't going to be a repetative issue.

They have all the parts in for mine, getting it done in about 12 hours.

Took the car to the dealer saturday and they toook care of the drivers side axle seal with no problems. i currently have 89K so have to watch the passenger side as the warranty will be out soon

Transmission wont warm up on these cars without actually putting a load on it. The exhaust and coolant warms up at idle thats about it.


I think my seal is bad, it kept dripping near the inspection plate so I thought it was the gasket job but now I'm realizing it's a rotational based leak. Does the opposite side have any seal or the same seal on it as well? Don't see any for sell, other than a Manual half shaft seal.