'08 Right Front Axle seal

[tjmotter]

The vehicle is an '08 XC90 with the V8 and AWD.

Working on my Nephew's vehicle. I removed the axle shaft as part of the process of replacing the alternator and was surprised to find that there was no fluid at all on the shaft. I expected to find some ATF and had a rag ready but it was bone dry. The seal is shot and I am in the process of replacing it but I have never seen an axle shaft come out dry before. It seemed to run just fine.

I know that the XC has a small transmission leak (next project) so I wanted to ask those of you on the forum if a dry shaft is normal on this model or is it the tranny just low on fluid. I would expect it to be low fluid levels but after watching a couple of YouTube videos on alternator replacement, the few shots where the axle has been removed and is visible look exactly like mine - bone dry.

thoughts?
Todd

[RickHaleParker]

Expected, otherwise they would need a tight seal around the spinning Axle, which in addition to spinning moves up and down. It is simpler to seal inside the transmission where they only need to deal with spin.

When I replaced the right axle on my C70 same thing, no fluid leakage.