i was crawling around underneath my 87 pickup inspecting everything i should have inspected before i bought the vehicle in june... but i didn't know what to look for then (i knew basically nothing), and have been studying like crazy on this forum (awesome), youtube, manual, etc since then and now i'm trying to get a real assessment of where i'm at with this thing. so in the (perpetually ongoing) process, i curiously start wiping away some of this clearly leaking-from-somewhere oil off the transmission and i find what looks like a hole in the metal??? it does not look like it's supposed to be there. can anyone help me understand what is going on and what the consequences might be? i'm hoping someone will say "oh that's a oem factory hole" but i doubt it

 

If it's directly, on the middle bottom, its supposed to be there.

 

thanks!!!! i was worried and couldn't find any pictures of the bottom of the transmission anywhere for some reason to compare. i'm going to relax now... on to the other 15 things that actually need addressing! muchas gracias

 

The hole is so oil doesn't pool inside the bellhousing, but the leak still needs fixed. Can you tell if it's engine or gear oil? Engine oil is probably from the rear main seal, gear oil from input shaft seal or the cover.

 

Dont forget to ck the gear oil level in the trans