Leaking transaxle fluid

On today's outing to the dunes, I had transmission fluid dripping.
Fearing the worst and lacking my socket to pull the plug and check
fluid levels, I came back early rather than risk damage. Upon looking
at some other transaxles around the garage, I think the fluid is
coming from a small hole at the top of the nose cone.

First question -- what is this hole? Is it a vent that is intended to
be open, or is it some kind of weep hole indicating a seal has blown?
I'm really hoping it's just a vent so I won't have to tear it all
apart and replace seals.

Next question -- I checked the fluid levels and it's slightly low,
certainly not overfull. The fluid is filthy and somewhat foamy. It
felt maybe a little thinner than it should have, but I can't be sure.
Assuming the little hole was a vent, is poor/contaminated fluid
sufficient to cause it to get spewed out?

Finally, anything else I should look into? This appears to be a late-
model IRS transaxle and is mounted in a manx-style buggy.

On 10/17/2010 7:53 PM, Scott wrote:
> On today's outing to the dunes, I had transmission fluid dripping.
> Fearing the worst and lacking my socket to pull the plug and check
> fluid levels, I came back early rather than risk damage. Upon looking
> at some other transaxles around the garage, I think the fluid is
> coming from a small hole at the top of the nose cone.
>
> First question -- what is this hole? Is it a vent that is intended to
> be open, or is it some kind of weep hole indicating a seal has blown?
> I'm really hoping it's just a vent so I won't have to tear it all
> apart and replace seals.
>
> Next question -- I checked the fluid levels and it's slightly low,
> certainly not overfull. The fluid is filthy and somewhat foamy. It
> felt maybe a little thinner than it should have, but I can't be sure.
> Assuming the little hole was a vent, is poor/contaminated fluid
> sufficient to cause it to get spewed out?
>
> Finally, anything else I should look into? This appears to be a late-
> model IRS transaxle and is mounted in a manx-style buggy.

Yes, it is a vent. It's unusual for it to spew oil
unless you were running hard and the oil got very hot
and/or high revs.

Put fresh Hypoid in and see what happens next time.

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/