The reason I ask is about my rear main seal. My transmission and clutch are fine.

A friend suggested to get to it I may be better off pulling the engine. Even if it takes longer, I like the idea of avoiding being under the vehicle with a transmission jack on jack stands, straining and craning my neck. I think the kind of pain associated with being under there with that kind of weight with a transmission with a transfer case on it is greatly outweighed by the back pain of leaning into the engine compartment.

I have pulled a transmission and rebuilt it before, but it was an oldschool 60's volvo 4-speed gearbox that was only a little larger than a pumpkin. That thing was pretty easy to get out. But the toyota transmission is much larger.

Looking for advice coming from first hand experience. To take care of the rear main seal and put in a clutch kit while I'm in there.

I'll be doing the timing chain and in the process, pulling the oilpan and will be able to examine the condition of the crank and all associated bearings beforehand to see if other work might be needed. I could even plastigage the crank and rod bearings while I'm in there. This is just the first part of the research to get started with the mechanical semi-overhaul.

 

I have always pulled the tranny as i had a tranny jack to do so,but i was used to it as i used to do alot of tranny and clutch work.But i here you laying under a vehicle isn't much fun and it gets more painfull the older you get.You also don't need to worry about bleeding the cooling system if you pull the tranny.Just my opinion

 

If you're going to do the timing chain replacement that can be done with motor in vehicle.Go with the kit with metal guides.You will probably have old broken plastic guide in the oil pan.If so you would want to remove that.So in that case you may want to pull the motor to do it all.

 

I have an '82 now which I THINK means both guides are metal backed. When I replaced timing kit on my '83, the kit was from engnbldr.com, and since it was the first year of plastic guides and single row chain, all-plastic guides and single row chain were what came in their DNJ brand kit.

Now does the '79-'82 DNJ kit sold by Engnbldr.com come with both guides metal- backed? If not, I may consider a different brand of kit.

I already did order the engnbldr kit, but called them today to confirm the order and the phone was busy (off the hook?) all day at several different times of day during business hours, so I'm not sure if the order's been finalized or could still be cancelled.

I would like to get the best quality kit with the most metal in it's guides.

Also, I wouldn't mind doing the radiator stuff. Draining them on these trucks is much easier than the 90's chevy I used to own. And the system on this truck really needs a good excuse to be drained and replaced at this point anyway, since, well, it just plain needs to be replaced!

 

sorry didn't realize you had a 82.Not familiar with those other than i believe they had a dual row chain and not sure on the guides.I personally have never used parts from enginebuilder but people here seem to swear by them so they must be decent,i think their prices are.

 

Yeah I'd say the transmission is "simpler", but, as you point out, you're under the truck doing it. Once it's out, you can sit up comfortably, with the back of the engine right there at eye level. At least I think that's what I remember from my truck.

But if you'd rather take the engine out, that definitely works. Helps if you can keep the intake and exhaust manifold attached, and just remove as little as possible. Good chance to the check the motor mounts, too.

You know your rear main is leaking? Apparently it's a really easy seal to mess up. So unless it's leaking, don't mess with it, is the advice I've heard. It's not a good one to replace "just 'cause".

I think engine builder, and Toyota, only put the metal back on the driver's side guide. But I'm not sure...Just ask them. If you have a double row on your 82 consider yourself lucky, because they didn't all have it! There doesn't seem to be much consensus on when they stopped doing the double row. But by 82, you definitely couldn't bet on having a double row, though some did.

As far as I know, it was only ever the driver's side guide that would get eaten through and allow the cover to start getting worn.

 

Thanks for the solid advice, 83.

I am not yet 100% sure about the rear main yet, I just have a strong hunch. It would be great if it were not leaking! I replaced the valve cover gasket set, and tightened the oil pan gasket, but I'm still gettin drips at the clutch slave cylinder. The clutch shift lever rubber is torn and/ or out of place, and a little oil seems to be coating this area. Not a sure sign, neither are the oil drips between the transmission and engine. That can come from the oil pan, even though I tightened it. The most concerning was the oil around the clutch slave. But then again, my '83 had oil there and when I did the timing kit, I did the oil pan and it was leak free after that. I'm hoping I can get the same thing to happen again.

About timing chains, I'm pretty sure my truck was manufactured in '81 and is an '82 release. I know about the driver's side being the one recieving the force of and slack that develops, because of the direction of rotation of the engine. I replaced my shattered and almost completely missing '83 guide with another plastic one. That was the DNJ kit contents from Engnbldr. If my driver side guide happened to be all plastic on the dual row kit, I may consider getting a different one with metal guides.

I do consider myself lucky to have the coolest year because not only is it the last year of double row timing chain, but it is the first year of the six-digit odometer and new gauge cluster. I don't know, something about having 6 digits on the odo. is nice.

Again, I may not do this operation until the clutch wears out, even if the rear main IS leaking. I haven't taken off the starter to look inside yet. We'll see...I do know that there are all kinds of ways to mess it up and that there can be grooves in the shaft. That's the kind of thing I want to avoid.

 

Yeah unless it's dumping oil I'd say the time to replace the rear main is when it's time to rebuild the engine.

I'm not sure that the rear main would really be throwing oil like that...but I'm not sure. You know that your clutch slave isn't leaking, I guess? I wouldn't think the transmission input shaft bearing/seal would throw that kind of oil, either, but it'd be just as likely as the rear main to throw oil. Of course, pulling either the tranny or the engine is the only way to find out!

I guess you'd also know by the smell of the oil, since gear oil is pretty distinct. At this stage in the truck's life, any number of things could have caused oil buildup at the slave. Like...even someone filling the transmission through the shift hole and spilling some down the sides, etc. But again, you should be able to tell by the smell.

The oil pans on these are annoying, and leak. Using FIPG or rtv in the correct way will definitely be better than the cork gasket.

Good luck.

 

What does the clutch fluid reservoir level look like? Any sign of loss? The leak is probably too slow to wait for a clear loss, but maybe it has already lost enough over time to be obvious.

I mention this because the reason I discovered the leaky load proportional valve on my truck is that the brake light came on, and the level was way down. Just a thought...

Slave cylinders are actually real cheap too, and they come with new boots!

 

I looked again under there- all the drips are at the same level or lower than the oil pan gasket. I don't know why two oil drops would accumulate as far back as the two bolts for the slave cylinder, but that's also kind of in line with the clutch lever boot. I don't have an easy time believing it would be slinging that amount of oil out of the bell housing at the clutch lever level either. Especially at the 130,000 miles this truck is supposed to have on it.

I guess as dark as the fluid in the clutch reservoir is, it is kind of hard to tell it apart from the oil, and I haven't had to add any in the couple months i've owned it, the brake fluid looked a tad low and I did add some to that when I got it. I can't be 100% I'm not losing a couple of drops of clutch fluid. I hate doing stuff like this without gloves on, but I think I tried rubbing those drops found clinging to the slave cylinder between my fingers to see if it was oily or "grippy" like brake fluid feels. I think I determined it was oil. Been a while since I was under there poking around. My old '83 had oil accumulation in about the same spot near the clutch slave, and cleared up after the timing kit and oil pan got done. In fact, I replaced that slave cylinder when I was having fluid loss, but it ended up being the master cylinder! That thing was still doing it's job, covered in oil, and I replaced it. Silly me.

Here's the clutch reservoir. It's got dark fluid, but there's also a black floating puck in there.


The drips. It's wet out, so that's either water mixed, or a couple drops of clutch fluid. Can't say for sure. Anyone ever find UV oil leak finder stuff? I've always wanted to try that stuff...


The pan area. I know I have a leaking drain plug, I improvised a piece of aluminum with a hole punched in it, which didn't really seal very well. The wind of driving is surely doing a lot to blow that oil on back to the bell housing.


And up to the shift lever boot, not out from it, right?..... That would be a lot of oil slinging to get up to and out of the shift lever boot hole all the way from the rear main seal, wouldn't it?


And again, oil plays some funny tricks on our imagination how it creeps out around things. Can you see how it looks like it's coming from the shift lever boot hole? But in concept, that would be pretty unlikely, right? Because there's that dust seal partition between the clutch on the flywheel and the bellhousing.... right?


Like I said, timing kit and oil pan gasket (and lots of cleaning!) first, then ask more questions later.... IF I'm still leaking. Otherwise I'll post pictures of my victory instead!

 

Just pull the engine with the tranny, 1h30 job and much more comfortable for working vs 1h job and very unfortable work.

 

The grippy versus slippery test is good, unless you have both! But I think that slave would be leaking at the small boot by the lever if it was failing- and that's essentially dry. I agree it is unlikely you have oil coming out of the bell housing at the lever. Your clutch would be in an oil bath!

It's oil (well, I think it is!). But before you put it all back together, it might not be a bad idea to get rid of (change) that hydraulic fluid. Isn't hydraulic fluid usually a light amber color? Then again, maybe it is new fluid since that looks like a new line going to the slave. I'll bet the slave is OK too.

You can do a lot of cleaning and drying if you get the engine/tranny out. When it's all back in, any leaks will be more obvious.

 

The reason the clutch fluid is dark is rubber/pigment of rubber from interior seals getting into the fluid. Doesn't usually indicate failure, just annoying to those of us who like clean fluid.

Last time I was swapping clutch components was on my '83 and after mistakenly swapping the slave out for a lightly used replacement from my freind's parts stash, then realizing it was the master cylinder and changed that, my fluid went blackish and stayed that way but performed fine for 5,000+ miles and still going. I suspect the slightly used slave cylinder seal, or a cheap seal on the master cylinder.

It may be time to bleed the clutch just because it's a good idea because moisture builds up in the fluid, but for some reason I've not had problems from the discoloration alone. Other times like with my old Volvo, it would happen to discolor and then a seal would go out, but not with my toyotas. It seems like discolored clutch fluid is par for the course now.

 

I just replaced my rear main seal yesterday. when replacing the seal retainer i noticed about 1/4" gap between the seal retainer and the oil pan. Is this normal? if so should i just fill the gap with liquid gasket maker? My fear is that this will blow out with any amount of oil pressure.

 

Photos?

Also, though this is fine, it's better to start a new thread for your own truck problems, rather than taking someone else's thread about their truck off topic.

 

First, I am sorry for jacking the thread, but I can't start a new thread of my own until I have at least 15 posts.
Second, I found out the that the gap is because the oil pan a tad bent and the rear main oil seal retainer is stripped where the oil pan bolts to it, thus creating the gap.
Third,I am going to have to replace the oil pan and rear main seal retainer in hopes that this remedies the problems.
I don't know how to post pics that aren't on the internet.

 

Shouldn't not knowing how to post pics be #4?

You can find a lot of things using the search function. I know there's a thread somewhere on how to post a pic. Going into the newbie tech section of the forum and reading/skimming the stickies is a good idea.

Basically, though, this site allows you to upload a photo from your computer, to your profile page, then post it. Or you can use one of the many free photo hosting sites and post the photo url from it, using the image icon up along the top of the bar when you're composing your message.

The 15 posts thing must be new since I joined. But it's actually a good idea.

 

I looked at mine, and it is NOT clear or light amber either! And the clutch works fine. Who knows how old it is. I'm really anxious to get going on the frame restoration and stuff. I just can't do it now...other priorites and of course, money going to those priorities.

I have been nursing my battery along with a floating charger, and so far that is keeping it alive during Winter.