Hi everyone just want to know which shops some of the HC guys or TT guys use. Here's my scenario, last August I ran in HPDE at Cal Speedway my passenger side axle came out slightly from the transmission and leaked a little bit of fluid mostly on the exhaust and undercarriage of the car. I replaced the axle and everything seemed fine. Yesterday at Willow it happened again I got the meat ball flag and when I pulled in to the hot pits you can smell some oil burning off, I pulled it back to the pits and noticed a small leak of fluid coming from the where the axle and transmission, at first I thought it may be a seal but for some reason I think it may be more..

I need to have someone that is familiar with how much abuse road racing does to a car to take a look at it, I dont want to be "THAT GUY" that pukes fluid all over the track. If anyone knows of a good shop that can take a look at it I would appreciate it. I'm in the Los Angeles area.

Thanks in advance.

BTW sorry for making this longer than it should..

 

I am no help, but you might get a quicker response if you post the area you are from and how far you are willing to drive, etc. Good luck.

 

PM me,I can provide service for you.

 

Afterhours Automotive! They support Renan's car (national Champion) as well as mine. Brian Kono is in Wilmington, near San Pedro.

PM me and I'll give you the #.

 

get a new cir-clip for the axle end and a new axle seal for the trans. both are very easy to install if you know how to pull the axle

 

The axle and seal are both pretty new, I changed both out last November. When I move the base of the axle up and down on the transmission side there seems to be some play.

 

Typically this means you have a diff bearings going out, that allows the diff to shift around, and allows the C-clip to pop out of the diff.

 

Are you running a swap in an older chassis?

 

The car is pretty stock just a header and exhaust. Stock motor and trans.

 

This. As for a shop, where exactly are you located?

 

Located in Los Angeles near Downtown. Looks like will end up taking it to Afterhours since they are familiar with the type of abuse the car will go through, I would like to get it ready for the March event.

 

Oh you are in a good location. In LA there are a lot of shops. I would suggest SP Engineering too if you need any serious work done down the road. They have a lot of great techs and don't try to bend you over when they do it. The only downside is that you have to set an appointment with them about 1-2 months in advance depending on the season.

 

Replacing the circlip and axle seal are good suggestions... I just wanted to relay my story to you, as I have been plagued with this exact problem for the entire 2009 season. After swapping a K20 in my Civic at the start of 09, the driver side axle kept pulling out of the trans housing causing massive fluid leaks. The passenger side axle also let go on me twice(inner CV developed tons of play).

This all cost me a lot in time and money in lost entry fees and track time. It turns out that the DriveshaftShop axles I was using were a bit too short... and during the compression stroke of the suspension, the driver's side axle would pull itself out of the trans housing. Keep in mind that I replaced the circlip and seal three times with no success. The pass side axle on the K trans is connected to the intermediate shaft, which is fixed in place with a bearing/carrier, so it could not "pull" itself out of the trans... but this just meant that it would wear away on the inner CV joint, which was telescoped out to its limit at all times.

The solution? A call to Marty at Raxles yielded a set of axles that fit perfectly and have not given me any problems. The driver side from Raxles was about .5" longer than the DSS unit, while the pass side was .75" longer.

I no longer have to check under the car after each run session to make sure the underbody isnt coated in trans fluid!

Edit: I don't have a suggestion for which shop to take it to, but choosing a mechanic who is familiar with track cars is paramount. The reason I discovered the true cause of my problem was because my mechanic, a 20 yr SCCA racer, took the time to remove the springs and track the axle movement through the compression arc of the front suspension.

 

Marty is the MAN!!! when it comes o axles.


This guys car is stock though... He has bad diff bearings IMO.

 

This is exactly why I asked if there was a swap done.

Edit: and OP didn't provide any information on his car.

 

Yes, Marty is the man. Best customer service Ive had, bar none, from an aftermarket company.

If the guys car is stock, the diff bearings could certainly be causing this.



OP, what brand are the axles you are using?

 

I'm using OEM Honda axles. I have a set of Hasport OEM replacement axles as spares when I go to the track.

On another note, has anyone ever heard of a shop called Street Image? The guy that runs it is Erik.. Just wanted to see if anyone has heard of him and what kind of reputation he may have.

 

Never heard of it.
Justin and Ken are both HC racers in so cal, id use what ever they suggest.
They have been around the corner a few times and id trust their knowledge.

 

FYI, you might want to look into simply buying another trans.. or doing some upgrades to yours while you have it apart.

to pull the transmission and put it back on it's going to be about $250 to $300 dollars. Diff bearings are around ~$50 each, so that is another $100. This doesn't include the hour or two of labor that it takes to crack the case, and put the bearings in there.

If the rest of your trans is good i'd look at getting an LSD, maybe an FD too.

If you brought the car to me, i wouldn't charge you anything more to install a diff in the transmission. I'd like it actual as i wouldn't have to press the old bearings off of the old diff.

Just something to think about if you are paying some one else to do the work.

You're going to spend the labor to get the trans off and the case cracked, so if you were thinking about doing anything else in the trans i'd do it now.

 

Or drop the transmission yourself and save some $ - just have the shop crack the case and do the work, then install the overhauled transmission yourself.

If you are using a car for competition purposes, it would behoove you (both financially and in terms of piece of mind) to be able to perform at least this level of work on the car. Otherwise you face a situation where the car breaks on track and you'll have no option but to have it towed to a shop (could be very expensive and inconvenient if you are at an out-of-town track).

IMHO, FWIW...

 

You can try TRS Racing in Marina Del Rey.

 

Being ASE ceritified helps as well

 

Justin fixed my tranny in a few hours!

 

OP - we still don't know what car you have... perhaps something with a B16 based on your screen name... and if it is stock we would assume it is a 99-00 Civic Si.

Let us know.. could help with the reccommendations.

 

Yes, its a stock 00 Civic SI. The only mods I have are header, intake and exhaust and coilovers. Still have full interior and I run a 225/50/15 tire.

In the past 10 years I've had the car I've never had this problem except for last Aug at Cal and this last time at Willow.