crazymudder

im trying to figure out what cause my transmission to leak from the bottom of the bellhouseing. its 5 speed and i have no clue what i need to change. never had to work on transmission

83

First make sure you know what kind of oil it is. If engine oil, it could be a. from the half moon gasket on the back of the head, right under the valve cover. Easy fix, and they can leak enough to have oil pool on top of the bellhousing, and eventually run down and drip off the bottom. Or b. Rear main seal.

If it's gear oil, then it's coming from the front input bearing/input shaft plate seal. There is a thread from a few weeks back about changing out that front bearing. It would be a pretty similar process. That, and the rear main seal in the engine would both require taking out the tranny.

Do your homework if you replace the rear main seal. Marlin (of Marlin Crawler) does NOT recommend that people touch this seal. It's apparently easy to mess up, and typically doesn't leak until around the time the engine needs a rebuild anyways. But he recommends not replacing it as "general/routine maintanence" if you happen to be there with the transmission off; like if you're doing the clutch or something.

So if you know it's gear oil, it's going to be that front seal around the input shaft. But make sure you know what kind of oil it is before you go pulling the tranny...

bruno4turbo

get it power washed, drive around until opperating temp and then lay under to see what oil it is. if its all grimy its sometimes hard to tell. good luck!

crazymudder

its gear oil now i just got to wait to get alittle more money than im goin to replace the seal. will it bebad to still take it offroad

bruno4turbo

i'd say fix it before wheeling because contaminated fluid can do a lot of damage, if something is leaking out, contaminants can get in. also if you weren't planning on it, get a new clutch kit too, have the tranny down why not? also the friction material may have oil on it and be close to going out.

83

Yeah it depends on how bad the leak is. If it's just spewing out, I'd obviously stop driving it.

But the worst that can happen with a small or moderate leak, as long as you don't let it run out of fluid, is that maybe the fluid will find it's way onto the clutch and ruin it.

But if it were me, and I had the tranny out, you can bet I'd be replacing the clutch anyway.

bruno4turbo

if its not that bad, top off the fluid and have fun, but avoid deep water, especially if you don't have breather lines... I'm currently going through the aftermath problems of water logged trans (not fun). and getting water in gear oil makes chocolate-milky nastiness. i let my leak go on to long, just topping off now and again and right now I have to pull the tranny because its leaking to bad and cannot drive it without overheating it, and may have ruined it by being stubborn, so I HIGHLY suggest fixing it asap.

83

Yeah I'd only recommend that it's ok to keep driving it with the understanding that you're going to fix it as soon as you can. But as long as you're doing that soon, you shouldn't need to park it until then.

If you got a lot of oil on the clutch, it might not grab anymore at a very inconvenient time...

bruno4turbo

yea don't be stubborn. (well not just stubborn but the idea of dropping a transmission the same size as me isn't appealing alone, w/o a jack.) so get the tools together and a buddy and it'll take only a couple hours. while you're at it, change the differential fluids as well, just think when was the last time you did that? good luck!

83

Yep, tranny is a pretty big, intimidating job at first.

For me, after the 3rd time, is was quick, straightforward and easy. Not complicated at all, just big and heavy.

crazymudder

Any have a picture of the seal I need I'm about to order it from the parts house I wanna make sure it's right

83pingpong

Marlin Crawler has their output seals on sale right now,
http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...on-output-seal


They don't list the internal seal (input?) on the website, though they rebuild them and have them. You can call them.. (559) 252-7295

O'Reilly shows front seals (Beck Arnley, National and others), but the photos all look "the same", but scaled differently, no measurements. They DO have Toyota transmission number applications (but seems only for output shafts). If you know your transmission number (W52, W55, etc), O'Reilly or other parts store should be able to get the right one.

BY THE WAY- CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHERE THE TRANSMISSION CODE IS PRINTED (casted in) ON THE TRANSMISSION? (like W55).

83

Not sure if it is printed anywhere.

That's what makes identifying a Toyota transmission so much fun

bruno4turbo

driver door jam placard should have it. or its on the bell housing somewhere

83pingpong

Door Jam, no...Not on my '83 (march 1983 build date). And it is not on the plate in the engine compartment either.

But Marlin Crawlers gear ratio chart offers a clue for those with original equipment. Also, the photos of each model (rebuilt transmissions) may help.
Here's the chart.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/tech/tr...ar-ratio-chart

Only one model during my model year. I will begin there.

83

I assumed since you used W55 as an example, you were talking about IDing a tranny which was not original to your truck.

I'll check my 83. Pretty sure the tag in the engine compartment says L52. But it's not anywhere on the tranny itself.