So im getting a pretty bad oil leak lately, and its coming from somewhere under near the tranny. I see oil alot from the Clutch Slave Cylinder and where the tranny bolts up (As seen in the pics). So its ether the Slave or the Rear Main correct? If theirs any other ideas plz plz let me knw, Thanx!!

The Slave
One side of the tranny
Other side of the tranny
Idk if the pics help or not but its the best i could get. Im loosin about a quart every 2 days or so And the clutch was recently replaced to with less then 5xxx miles on it btw.

 

Probably the rear main seal.

:wabbit2:

 

Crap ok thanx Wabbit. I hear its kinda a pain to work on, is that true?

 

So I have the same exact thing happening was it the rear main?

 

Smell it. If you are unfamiliar in what clutch fluid (brake fluid) smells like, pop the cap off the master and take a wiff. Climb under, get some on your finger and take another wiff. If it dont smell the same, rear main.

ORRRRR... if your slave isnt leaking down with the clutch pressed, its not the slave.

 

with that much fluid missing, i doubt the clutch would be working.

input seal for tranny is a possibility.

either way, you are dropping the tranny. may as well do the clutch right away. buy a repair sleeve for the crank too. i would be willing to bet it is grooved.

 

What about does the rear main seal cost to replace at a shop (not the dealership)? I have a similar leak that isn't nearly as bad, and I'm wondering how far I'm going to have to bend over at the mechanics in the (hopefully very distant) future. :sigh:

 

Another possibility is the rear half moon, unless it is dry up there...

 

Don't know what that is. Here's a very untechnical explanation of what I noticed. There was a couple of drops of oil pooled right below the bolts on the bottom of where the transmission bolts up right behind the oil pan. From there it dripped onto the front diff and made it's way down the line until it dripped from the bolt at the bottom. This is the first bit of oil I've seen in 6 weeks of owning it, so hopefully it's that slow of a leak. I cleaned it up underneath down there, so I'll keep an eye on it and see how long it takes to drip again. I'll be pissed if it starts dripping a lot since I just had to buy new tires and get the timing belt & water pump replaced. My wallet can't take another major repair for at least a few months.

 

Always worth trying a good high-mileage oil to see if it will buy you some time, since they have extra seal-swelling esters. Last Spring, I switched to Valvoline MaxLife 10W-40 to see if it would slow or stop leaks from both my front and rear main seals (the front was leaking about like the OP's rear seal; the rear seal on my veezy was not leaking much.) After a couple weeks, both seals stopped leaking, and it stayed that way up to the fall when I replaced the front seal when I did my timing belt. I switched to Rotella T6 for the winter, and surprisingly the rear seal hasn't started leaking again (knocking on wood right now )

Oil on the clutch plate does not always cause slipping, at least not at first. But it can cause pretty bad chatter.

 

Power wash everything, top off your oil, see if you cant spot the new oil leaking. Get a mirror and a light and check everywhere, including back of the head. The half moon seals are just below the valve cover, one in front and one in back. If it is one of these, you lucked out, just put some sealant or silicone on them. Off course, you could have more than one leak as well.

 

Here's a pic. By no means a large leak, but you can see a couple drips starting to form. This is after I wiped it off last night and drove about 18 miles this morning. I'm hoping that some Valvoline Maxlife 10w40 will stop it before it gets out of hand.
I tried to look for the half moon seals, but I'm not exactly sure where I should be looking. I didn't notice any oil anywhere near the top of the engine though.

 

those half moons are on the rear of the 22r valve covers which is wht that O.P. has. Not sure if the covers on the 3.0 etc etc have them or not. I don't believe they do but I could be wrong.

 

3.0 ....missed that part

 

There are what could be called "full moon" plugs in a 3vze, but they don't leak as often or as much as apparently the 22re half-moons do. The valve cover gasket does notoriously leak, especially above cyl 5. Most of that oil drips to the side, and probably would not get inside the bell housing. I'd say the chances the OP has a rear main seal leak are excellent.

 

How about mine, does it look like rear main seal? The oil isn't in the bell housing, it looks like its dripping down from the passenger side somewhere, then running down the edge of bell housing. Could it be from a leaky valve cover? I looked around up top and can see a very small bit of oil near the plug for cyl. 2? (very front, driver side). It's hard to see around cyl. 5 though. I don't know. I'm just hoping the Valvoline maxlife works. I'm going to change it in little bit. Just waiting for the engine to cool a little. Any tips or tricks with the oil filter on the 3.0?

 

Hard to tell from the pic. You could try the powerwash and then closely inspect and trace any oil upwards to see where it's coming from. Or try the MaxLife, give it 2 or 3 weeks, and see if you still have a leak.

Oil filter, use a Purolator PureONE PL20195 if you want the best filtering. But watch the clearance from the engine mount. That filter is tall and on most veezys clearance between the installed filter & mount is between 1/8 and 1/4". With that clearance, the reports have been that it never touches the mount. Less than 1/8" clearance, don't use it. Use the Toyota 90915-YZZD3 instead. Both filters are taller than the tiny stock filter and offer more filtering area and better flow. The PureONE filters a lot better than the Toyota. Don't use any aftermarket filters in the stock compact size - most have around 104-110 sq in of filter area, versus 160 for the stock Toyota 90915-YZZD1 and so the aftermarkets will clog much sooner, going into bypass, and will have worse flow. If you go aftermarket, use a filter for the Ford 3.8 L V6. Easiest to search for a 2001 Windstar since it only came with the 3.8 that year.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...filter-190242/

 

Great info !

 

do you thinkn it would take 2 or 3 weeks for the leak to stop if the oil is going to help it? The leak has gotten slightly worse since I changed the oil Saturday. It's not gushing or anything, but I'm getting a little drip more frequently, maybe once every day or two. The oil looks to be dirty though, not clean like the fresh oil, so I wonder if it's some residual old oil still leaking out from wherever it's coming from. I've narrowed it down to coming from what appears to be where the transmission connects to the engine, closer to the passenger side. It seems to be dripping somewhere from the side or top, then flowing down to the bottom of the bell housing, where it eventually falls to the floor, or onto the front diff.

 

I might have missed something in the thread so if I'm repeating a question or found solution i apologize: Have you discounted the slave cylinder as the culprit ? Did you pull the boot back and check the seal at the pushrod ?