pittsbfan2000

Hi, I just purchased a 2001 Honda Civic LX a few weeks ago, it had a bad motor (owners daughter never added oil). So this was my first Engine swap, original engine was the D17A1, I put in a D17A....... I also replaced both front axles, hubs & bearings and lower ball joints,.....

I was able to get the car to start up with the new engine, no warning lights. I've run it for about 10 minutes 5 or 6 times, i have not driven it yet.

Today I had the front of the car jacked up, no leaks anywhere. I then drained the transmission via the plug, let it all drain then put the plug back in. I was also going to bleed the brakes, so I got ahead of my self because my helper had to leave, he quickly started the car - probably about 5 seconds, then stopped it and reminded me to put 3 quarts of transmission fluid back in..... So we put in 3 quarts of new transmission fluid, then we see/hear alot of dripping, look under the car and there is a huge pile of transmission fluid.... Looks to me like it's dripping from where the passenger axle enters the transmission....

Any ideas why? Would starting the car have caused this? Would it have knocked the axle out some? I had no leaks prior to draining the fluid....

I feel like at least 2 of the 3 quarts leaked out..... When I originally pulled out the old axle prior to pulling the motor, i don't recall having as much transmission fluid leaking out.

Colin42

wrong axle? didn't seat all the way? tore the seal either removing the old or installing the new? take pictures

piano55man

i just recently did the same engine swap thing this past weekend...
after it was all said and done and test driving, i had the passenger side cv axle pop out of the MT and some fluid came out from that area.

I put a new axle in, made sure it was in correctly and no leaking...
Make sure the axle is seated all the way...this is what caused my leaking.

Like Colin42 said, check your transmission seals.

I would also pull the axles out and make sure you didn't grind away the ends of the cv shaft...between the clip and the end.

pittsbfan2000

Here is a link to a couple photos of where the passenger side axle connects to the transmission - guess it popped out? http://imgur.com/a/P0RM4
I won't be home till sunday to pull the tire off again.

Both the driverside and passenger side axles are new.

As I mentioned, I was going to bleed the brakes right after draining the transmission, my helper was only around for 10 minutes before he had to leave so I was in a hurry and forgot to add the 3 quarts of new transmission fluid back, we only had the car running for 5 or 10 seconds then we shut it off..... Thats when we started adding the 3 quarts, after we added it all, we heard it coming out of the bottom where the passenger side axle connects.....

Is it possible that starting the car without the 3 quarts caused this?

I haven't checked the seals, should I be able to see the seals if I pull the axle out?

ezone

CV joint is not fully seated in the trans. Either shove the axle all the way in until the snap ring locks it in place, or figure out why it does not go all the way in and stay there.

Colin42

Like Ezone said the axle isn't fully seated, either you didn't shove it in far enough or you have the wrong axle.

Do you still have the old axle so you can compare the length?

If you find out it's the wrong axle, bring in your vin number to the parts store to make sure they get the correct one. Or go to the dealer. Or try your luck at a junkyard.