I began to notice a puddle of oil under my car in the last few weeks. After further investigation, it is transmission fluid, not engine oil. I got under the car to look around and the underside of the transmission was covered in fluid. The rear seal to the drive-shaft is bone dry, as well as the shifter housing.

I thought maybe the drain plug was leaking as the fluid looks clean from a possible change from the previous owner. So I pulled the fill & drain plugs, dried them and resealed with permatex & torqued them down to spec. I did the same to the smaller bolts that are not fill or drain bolts. The leak is still there.

I plan to clean thoroughly, drive it at slow speed around the block & re-check to isolate the leak. Hopefully, I will discover it. As you know, it could very wheel be the front seal leaking. I hope not, but we will see.

My question is this, does our transmissions have breathers? If the breather was gummed up or clogged, it would pressurize the case, forcing it to leak. If they do, where are they located?

I will add, that it only seems to leak when I drive it.

All help & suggestions is appreciated.

 

Breather is located on top of the gearbox - if you're talking about a manual not an auto, has a little "bell" on it.

From memory, it's in the 5th/reverse extension section - suspect it's highly unlikely that insects or whatever could plug it up from the outside - if that's where you're going.

 

Especially if you have recently changed the clutch or have tinkered w/ tranny harness, etc.. On the driver side top, two diamond shaped access covers may be the source. When I changed my clutch once I had a tranny leak and was pretty sure I did not overfill it, but could not find the leak that easy. Upon further inspection I realized that one of the bolts on a access cover plate was loose. Hope this helps.

 

The car did get a J-spec engine by the previous owner, as well as an ACT clutch. I will be looking into this tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

 

Make SURE you are not overfilling the case. Use the right plug for gauging the level. Breather is on top of the case..



LAter

 

I would check those two access covers on the top driver side. It is necessary to remove some of the bolts for these (or so it would seem w/o closer look) covers to release the electrical harness and if not tightened down properly they will leak and give the initial symptom of tranny being overfilled. I would also ask what kind of fluid was used (might have put old fluid or some crap in there?) and I would make sure the upper shifter pan was filled properly. Check all your fasteners (see if they look rounded off and make sure they are all there and tight. Make sure your PPF looks to be installed correctly (look where the nuts are and see if you can see impressions in the PPF like where they maybe used to be, the PPF needs to be installed on the money. Just some suggestions, I am not at all saying the mechanic was not qualified, but you might be supprised.

 

It was filled by me per FSM. I used Redline MTF also.

Thank you very much for the advice. I am going to get it in the air today and go over EVERYTHING. I will also level the car equally when jacked up and double check my fluid levels. Though I haven't been driving it much, it has been leaking.

There were a few other things on the car that weren't up to "par" with quality installs, so I wouldn't be surprised if I found the issue to be along the same lines.

I'll update soon...

 

Put it up in the air today. Cleaned everything off. It seems to be leaking where the transmission meets the tail shaft housing. All my plugs were dry. I also spun the breather around and it was REALLY grimy. I wiped it off until it spun freely. I'm HOPING this could have been the issue. I took it for a quick drive & haven't seen any of the usual oil drops.

I'll recheck tomorrow when I get it in the air again.