8yota9

im pritty sure my main oil seal is shot. hade valve covers dun head gaskets are good but it is dripping right frome the bell housing . could it be the rear of the oil pan and is the main seal a bitch to do yourself along with the oil pan

thook

Is it the 3.0? Auto or manual? How many miles are on it?

It could just be the oil pan, yes. You might try resealing it first.
To the other question....
I'm in the middle of getting my transmission back in on my '86. I just changed the clutch system and rear main seal. It has been basically just a lot wrenching. The only hard part I've encountered has been getting the trans. input shaft mated back up to the pilot bearing. I'd been strugglin' with this one little step for the past several days BECAUSE I have been doing it myself. BUT!!!!! Thank God for country boys with ingenuity! So, today, my wife was talking to the local tow truck good ol' boy and he said to push the tranny up as close to the crank case as possible with the bellhousing in line with the backing plate as much as possible and put two or four long bolts in and get them started to act as long guide pins. Keeps the tranny from getting crooked when your trying to push it back in. Then, just shove the tranny on up to the motor and start putting in the bellhousing bolts. He said he's done that for years and it works every time. I was told by several people job is a lot with two persons, but so far this is the only part I had any trouble doing it myself. Of course, now that problem is solved. So, if you're doing the job yourself (like me) and that's the hardest part, then it shouldn't be that bad.....if you have a floor jack or tranny jack, that is.

highway

we made a transmission jack by taking a small piece of metal 8" x 8" welded a scocket to the backside. then took the foot/plate off the floorjack and put the metal piece in its place (welded socket holds it on) the took a tie down strap and tied the tranny to it and raised it up and in

thook

That was a great idea, highway. I went with it...only I don't have a welder. So, I used a solid wood plank and bolted a socket to it. Then, I fastened on some shelf brackets for lateral supports. Taking it a step further, on the rear portion of my floor jack there is a little magnetic tray for bolts. It was perfect spot to place a small board over it, place the OEM bottle jack on it right under the tcase, and use it to tilt the tran/tcase unit up or down. Cool, eh?

Anyhow, this is a good option for lack of an actual tranny jack or partner, 8yota9.

4x4Lamm

It sounds like one of the two. How many miles on the rear main seal you have now? About 150K seems to be the life of 'em in my experiance.

Lamm

8yota9

ive got 1926xx on mine its a slow but sure drip. to do the oil pan it looks like i gota take the bell housing off its a 3.0 see like a little shild but i dont see a way to get it off its covering a few of the pan bolts dose it come off