benchernif

First time here...love looking. Gone from a 93 Civic to my dreamcar - 4Runner baby. So be easy on me:

I've possibly foolishly purchased a 1995 (auto, 4x4, 3.0) that runs great...except this:

At cool standstill (such as in the morning) nothing leaks.

After driving about 20 minutes then parking, I notice oil all over the rear propeller shaft, dripping pretty consistently, and it seems to be coming from the transmission. I'm about 95% sure it is AT fluid because it smells of it, and not of engine oil. Also, my engine oil is not dropping one bit.

The AT fluid is everywhere...seems to fly up even to the oil filter (just a little bit...), but mostly on the shaft.

The leak APPEARS to be sourced exactly where the engine and the trans connect, right at the converter cover.

Any general ideas of which seal/gasket this could be? I understand engine leaks better than I do AT leaks, so any suggestions would help me out.

Could this be a possible overfill leak, as well? Any plugs that might not be tight?

And yes, I'm about to clean it up a bit more to find the exact source...but if you could steer me in the right direction (according to automatic transmission possible leak areas), this would be great. Plugs, seals, screws, gaskets...

Much thanks...

Ben

myyota

Make sure the vent on the transmission isn`t plugged. If its plugged the transmission can`t breathe and the presure builds up inside and pushes the fluid out past the seals.

HighLux

Its the front pump seal. As the runner heats up the trans fluid...its weeping out the seal as it becomes more viscous.

you up to pulling the trans? If you are I can guide you through pulling the front pump and replacing the seal.

benchernif

HighLux - I think this sounds like the issue...makes sense. Any way I can be sure of this, though? I'm about to clean it all off and put some dye into the trans to figure the exact spot.

But if it's the seal you're talking about, sounds like it'll just throw fluid everywhere, correct?

YES, I would love some guidance, and I am totally ok for pulling the trans. I have a mechanical family with all the right tools, but this will be a first time for me. My brother is willing to help, and he's done this before.

Can you email me off-list? benchernif - at - gmail - dot - com

Cheers...

Ben

HighLux

OK...first of all.....how does the trans shift...etc?
Is it working good except the leak?


Second...there is an inspection cover that you can take off...and take a look up in there and see if the fluid is coming from there.....

Check the 2 tranny cooler lines that go into the trans? check the cooler lines all the way to the front.

We want to be 100 percent sure the leak is the front seal...before we tear the trans out. Cause it sucks.

benchernif

Alright - a little update, but first to answer your questions:

The trans works really well, it shifts smoothly and runs quietly. Sometimes shifting from 1st to 2nd is a bit rough (not smooth, or kinda delays a second...you can feel it more than other shifts), but I'm pretty sure this is normal, or it's because of how I'm accelerating.

I'll look into the inspection cover, but where is it at?

Last night I put some "UV dye" into the trans to see if I could zero out on a tran leak, but my black light detected nothing. But I think the UV dye got lost in the grit of the trans oil, which is pretty black. The issue I'm having is the trans oil isn't nice and rich and red, but I swear the leaking fluid smells like trans oil (it's a very different smell, isn't it? More chemically than motor oil?). Trans and motor oil levels seem to be holding, which is also confusing me.

After doing a major wash underneath the body, I can see the oil is definitely not coming from either the motor oil or trans oil pans. The leak seems to be coming from the top of the converter cover where the engine and trans meet, but that area is so tight all I see is wet oil. Is there some kind of line there that could be leaking?

Where are the tran cooler lines? Do they rest near the top of the trans? This might be the issue...

Finally - if the trans is overfilled with fluid, will it leak out the excess? I'm wondering if it's just leaking out excess fluid...

Lots of questions before I pull this thing apart, for sure. Do you want pictures of anything?

Ben

Ben

benchernif

OK pics:

From right wheel well


Tran front right


Tran front bottom...it's dry after washing and running, so it seems to be only coming down the right side of the trans as in last pic


Front shaft where all the oil eventually just sits on, some gets back to the transfer box and starts to drip once I park the truck


Top front of trans where it connects to motor...wet (but I didn't wash this...so lots of this could be old oil)


Left valve cover...but doesn't seem like a bad leak, just over time, right?


Front of engine, right near the oil filter. Crazy wet, but doesn't appear to be dripping down the pan even.


Oil pump? Nasty...I wiped that hose clean last night, and now it's wet again. Whassup?


The hose I wiped clean last night


SO, could it be a leak from the engine that just seeps to the right side and jumps onto the propeller shaft? There is NO oil leaking under the engine, only under the front gear box and the propeller shaft.
Is this just freakin' weird or what?!

HighLux

Looks like oil to me in the pics. Im on cell right now though. From what i can see so far lools like front seal maybe?


Transfluid should not be that dirty. Bad boy. Put a fluid filter change on the list

benchernif

Regarding the transfluid...I know! I bought it like this...I drained the pan and added about 3.5 quarts of fresh stuff, and I'm going to do this 1 or 2 more times to slowly change the fluid. I've heard flushing a dirty system like this could be bad because the fluid is so different...so I want to do it slowly. Yup yup, filter is on the list.

That's the other thing...my engine oil is spankin' new and golden looking...all of this stuff is black, which again leads to the trans.

Let me know when you're off your mobile phone...

Thanks again!

Ben

benchernif

Turned out to be bad head gaskets. Turned the whole top of the engine around...found a cracked valve, machined the driver's side head and purchased a refinished passenger side head.

No more leaking oil. Was NOT the transmission.

Best...

Ben