Hey,
I'm new to this forum and joined a couple days ago. Bad way to start it off but anyway. I just got this '95 Celica GT Hatchback and while I was driving back tonight, there was a loud boom near the passenger side of the engine. I pulled over and to my surprise, its leaking, it just kept pouring out. The leak was coming from near the middle of the car, maybe transmission fluid? Now I can't move the car, the clutch and transmission feel like their working, but the car won't move. The engine starts and idles but if you push it there's this horrible sound as if something is grinding. I pushed into a Midas nearby and left it there until the morning. So any ideas as to what went wrong or what Midas will tell me need repaired? I just want to know what happened to my baby!

mabye you popped out an axle ? or broke one ?

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oh-my-gosh. orlando. do you happen to have like black rims with a chrome lip?

it does kinda sound like an axle popped out...

wow that would suck ass. if you popped an axel out wouldnt the tire be facing the opposite way of the other front tire?

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No, Its a white nearly bone stock celica with bbs wheels.

I was able to turn on the car and move the steering wheel, if the axle broke I wouldn't be able to do that, right?

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ah ok then. Yup, you can still move the steering and start the car if an axle popped out.

differential grenaded?

I was hoping that it just blew a seal on the transmission and just needed to replace the transmission fluid. If the axle broke wouldn't one of the wheels not turn at all?

The axle connects the wheel to the transmission. If it breaks you will still be able to move the wheel and steer, your transmission just wont be putting power to that wheel.

UPDATE:

So the Midas people say the axle popped off the engine and they need to weld it back with an axle mount. They recommend replacing the engine for around $3500. Does this sound right? I think there trying to screw me over, but I looked underneath the car, and the passenger side axle looks to be completely disconnected from the wheel.

Hahahahahahahaha



The axle popped, so replace the motor?



My exhaust has a leak, so I need to replace my transmission!


If you popped the axle you just need to replace the axle.

dont let midas screw you over.

just put a new axle

Tow your car someplace else, after a diagnosis and recommendation like that, I wouldn't trust them to do the work anyway. They're gonna mess around inside of that car to "make sure" you have to bring it back.

TAKE IT SOMEPLACE ELSE. (and for that matter, if I were you, I'd call Midas corporate off their web site and make a complaint about that particular location. That's MAD shady)

Welcome to the site, sorry you're having problems with your car, but I'm sure you'll get it all sorted out. A broken axle isn't so bad.

I wonder how a broken axle would lead to bleeding in the middle of the car... I'm assuming its the right side axle cuz it's longer?

This post has been edited by tomazws: Apr 9, 2010 - 2:18 PM

UPDATE:
I ended up getting it towed to another place called DealerDirect. They haven't looked at the car yet, but while we were taking it off the flat bed, it started leaking from another location. The tow truck guy thinks its the engine oil. I checked that before I left and the dipstick still read full.

And it was the passenger side axle that is broken off, but could it have done more damage, specifically to the engine itself?

Also, I don't think I'll ever go to that Midas again, they're just crazy. Thanks for all the help.

The axle doesn't connect to the engine, it connects to the transmission. So as far as further damage it could've done, it' smore likely that it could have damaged the transmission than the motor itself.

I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking or wondering this, but if you've got actual motor oil leaking, and it's not transmission oil, my concern is that you snapped a rod and it went right through the block. I think that would be the worst case scenario. The bad news in that, is that it would mean your engine is completely toast. The good news in that is that there's no way in hell it'll cost you anywhere even REMOTELY near $3200 to fix! Furthermore, your engine isn't too hard to come by, if you had to replace it, sourcing it wouldn't be a problem. They only run a few hundred bucks, maybe $500 if it's relatively low miles. You can expect to pay a shop roughly the same in labor.

Actually on a GT there is an axle carrier that bolts to the engine block. The only way you would need a new engine is if the carrier broke part of the engine block and cannot be repaired or ripped out enough of the block to cause an engine oil leak.

^ this is good to know, of course I was coming at it from an ST perspective, I don't remember anything like that on my car but then again, I've only messed with the axles/tranny once, and that was over a year ago