skoti89

I know its hard to tell from the pictures, but do you think this is my rear main seal leaking?
The orange is my oil pan.


It seems to be engine oil, and it seems to be coming from the transmission side of the plate(through that square hole?). This is a fresh rebuild with only 700 miles on it and never leaked until a couple days ago ( I kept my eye out for puddles the first 500 break in miles). The rest of the engine is sealed up.

If this is my rear main, I don't have to pull the engine out again do I? Maybe just the trans? Alot of people say to make sure its not the oil pan. but the pan seems pretty sealed up. I was pretty bummed when I saw this....but the whole rebuild was done by me ( not a mechanic, only 21) and I did buy a full rebuild kit(crank too) for 300 dollars.( that was with my napa employee discount, about 450 to 500 retail).

I heard something about if I use oil dye, I can tell if its the rear main if the oil is flung everywhere by the clutch? if its just dripping then its the pan?
Any help and thoughts appreciated.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

You use an oil pan gasket or FIPG?

:wabbit2:

skoti89

gasket. cork

874runnersr5

Should have used rtv

peow130

Pull the pan, clean off the oil, throw the cork in the garbage, and lay the RTV on thick.
RTV black works the best.
But i used RTV orange and it worked too.

sb5walker

Toyota sold me gray fipg (which was rebranded Permatex Ultra Grey) for the pan in 98 and it's still holding great with no leaks after 13 years. I think it's no longer available from Toyota, but the Permatex product is easy to find. Best to let any fipg cure overnight before filling motor with oil.

If it does turn out to be the rear main seal, I recommend Valvoline MaxLife 10W-40 - it completely stopped the rear main seal leak on my truck, and it's a great oil.

This thread may be of interest:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...g-both-201485/

83_4wd_Toy

oddly enough Toyota dose not make a gasket for the oil pans even there techs use FIP. You can use any insta gasket i think however it is cheep from the dealer and if it matters to you (some care some dont, to each there own) then you know you are using the exact product that toyota uses.

greencactus3

curious, is dropping the oil pan without lifting the engine possible?

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

That is almost certainly the rear main. Mine leaks because I forgot to put a speedi-sleeve on the crankshaft sealing surface. Now the nice new seal just rides in the old groove and has a slow drip. The oil shows up in that exact place. If it's leaking bad it can ruin the clutch material

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Check to see if it's the oil pan gasket. Those things are crap.
Then use TOYOTA FIPG black and throw that cork crap in the garbage.

If that doesn't stop it, rear main seal as buckethead above said.

:wabbit2:

iamsuperbleeder

In that area it c

iamsuperbleeder

In that area it could be the rear main, or it could be the inputshaft seal on the trans. Either would only require you to pull the trans to replace them.

Have you checked the trans fluid yet?

iamsuperbleeder

Sorry for the double (triple now) post... My iPhone is stupid...

83_4wd_Toy

I know on the 4wd ones it is. i didnt even use a jack when i did mine just unbolts and you pull it out the back side of the front axel. honestly tho i have never even slid under a 2wd toyota truck but i dont see why it would be much diferent.


And after looking at the pictures on a better computer i can see now that it dose not look like its the pan gasket so i would have to say it is most likely your rear main "iamsperbleeder" has a good point about it could be the trans input shaft leaking as well, tho you said it is engine oil and the rear mains are always leaking on these trucks so i would put my money on that.

skoti89

Im not 100 percent its engine oil....it looked pretty clean and I did an oil change maybe 2 weeks before finding the oil....so I assumed

I am in luck, a buddy had a toyota oe seal at his shop that a customer canceled on him about a year ago...free 99

skoti89

I learn something new everyday...lol

T.O'Brien

Awesome responses, My truck is leaking all over the place...slowly...going to be changing out the transmission/t-case, power steering junk, and EGR stuff in hopes it fixes most of my issues.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

Skoti, a quick taste test will let you know if it's engine oil or gear oil.

92 TOY

ewwww.

i'd try smelling it first...definitely a huge smell difference between the 2.

iamsuperbleeder

you're really not going to be able to tell very clearly by looking at it if it's gear oil from the trans or engine oil from the engine. once either one of them starts leaking out into the open, it's going to collect all the road grime and turn black as soon. especially if it runs down the bell-housing of the trans. all the dust particles in there from the clutch and all, the oil is going to grab it all as it runs down inside

and the the "smell test" may give you a little more info on what it is. gear oil has a very distinct smell...

I don't know how often you've tasted engine oil or gear oil, but I can tell you that I've never tasted gear oil so there would be no way I'd be able to tell the what it was by tasting it, LOL. I have had engine oil splashed in my mouth before though


either one, the rear main seal or the trans input seal, if left to leak for too long will eventually get oil onto your clutch. when that happens, the clutch is shot and will need to be replaced.

buy both a trans input seal, and an engine rear main seal so you've got them both on hand and don't have to run up to the store in the middle of your work. here's the steps I'd do to go about fixing this.

1) disconnect the battery (because we'll be working around the starter)
2) unbolt the front and rear drive shaft flanges at the transfer case
3) remove the stater
4) unbolt the trans slave cylinder and let it dangle by the flex-hose it's attached to
5) go in through the cab and remove the boot at the bottom of the shifters, then remove the bolts around the plate so you can pull the shift sticks out of the trans
*you may want to try to put a plastic bag over the open hole or stuff some rags in the void to keep anything like dirt from falling into the trans
6) remove all the bolts holding the trans to the engine
7) get a jack (ideally a transmission jack) and use it to support the weight of the trans as you pull it back away from the engine
*you don't need to pull the transmission completely out from under the truck to see which one is leaking, or even to replace either seal
8) at this point, assess your situation and see which one is leaking, and replace the leaking seal


if it's the trans seal, unbolt the plate that holds the seal to the trans, pull the old seal out, pop the new one in, clean the mating surfaces on the trans and the seal housing, apply new FIPG (form in place gasket, or RTV sealant) to the seal housing, bolt the seal housing back on, and reassemble


trans with seal housing removed





seal in it's housing, unbolted from trans







if the oil appears to be leaking from the rear main engine seal, you'll have to remove the clutch, flywheel, and engine backing plate in order to get to the engine's rear main seal housing


there's 5 bolts that go through it into the block, and two more on the bottom that you pull out at the oil pan





you do NOT have to remove the oil pan to fix it. when putting the housing back on, just make sure to apply plenty of FIPG to seal up at the oil pan gasket. there's a paper gasket between the main seal housing and the block; be sure to use RTV on that paper gasket as well