my rear axle is leaking some fluid and the axle it self is pretty bad rusted. can it be fixed with out replacing the whole axle . what should it do?
Your instincts and logic are quite right! Trust yourself, you do good work!
pull the axle out and replace the grease seal. if the axle is rusted, take some steel wool and clean it up. the seal is either in the housing or on the axle. if it,s on the axle, you have to get the bearing pressed off and install the seal and then press the bearing back on the axle.
If your timing chain was bad, the engine would not be sounding like marbles. I t would not even run. I doubt you even have a timing chain. It is probably a timing belt, but a 2.2 L4 engine guy out there may know for sure. You need to find out EXACTLY what your brother did before the strange nosies started. Apparently he is not giving you all the information. Marble sounds often indicate main bearing wear. It sounds to me like your stealership is just waiting to rake you over the coals. They will start with a $750 estimate just to get you hooked in. Then they will say, Oh we found something else wrong. That will be another $3500. Most likely it will be something they broke. Get your truck out of there as fast as you can and find a good Chevy mechanic or do it yourself. A timing belt (or chain) job (including parts) should not cost more than $250 for that vehicle, even that is a bit on the steep side. A transverse V6 is harder and will run $350-400, but you have the inline 4, really a piece of cake.
If the bolton cover on the rear of the axle is rusted and leaking you just need a new cover, It's an easy repair. But if it is leaking out the ends (by the tires) you need new seals, which aint to bad to fix but you will want to replace the outer and inner bearing and also freshin up the brakes when replacing these seals. But then again if it is leaking where the drive shaft connects to the axle, that is your pinion seal and that can be a pain to fix. Good luck, I have a whole brand new axle for a s-10 i would sell.
