Transmission leaking from shifter cylinder

[chaseincats]

Hi guys,

My transmission is leaking from the joint where the shifter cylinder attaches to the transmission.  The transmission is on the car and the attached picture I just got off the net to illustrate where the leak is coming from.

Is there any way to stop this leak from the outside without removing the transmission and disassembling it?  I checked and the transmission is not overfilled.  

I know this is an odd area for it to leak but somehow it's happening...

 

any ideas?

-chase

Edited March 19, 2019 by chaseincats

[EuroDat]

Unfortunately you can't fix the leak without removing the rear extension housing. That means dropping the transmission out of the car.

It is leaking from the Striking rod O-ring seal. The O-ring size is 24x2.5mm (ID x Cross section) and is also the same size as the O-ring on the speedo adapter.

The O-ring 32710N has a Nissan p/n: 32830-20100. 

The o-ring has probably hardened over the years and no longer providing a good seal. The rear gear set for 5th and reverse churn up the oil and splash around. That is why it leaks even though is high up on the transmission.

See parts list in attachment for the O-ring.

Tranny_Rebuild_FEB2012.pdf

[Patcon]

When I reworked a 5 speed recently that seal was so hardened we thought it might be metal or plastic. I ordered one and was surprised at supple it was compared to what was there

[chaseincats]

2 hours ago, EuroDat said:

Unfortunately you can't fix the leak without removing the rear extension housing. That means dropping the transmission out of the car.

It is leaking from the Striking rod O-ring seal. The O-ring size is 24x2.5mm (ID x Cross section) and is also the same size as the O-ring on the speedo adapter.

The O-ring 32710N has a Nissan p/n: 32830-20100. 

The o-ring has probably hardened over the years and no longer providing a good seal. The rear gear set for 5th and reverse churn up the oil and splash around. That is why it leaks even though is high up on the transmission.

See parts list in attachment for the O-ring.

Tranny_Rebuild_FEB2012.pdf 126.02 kB · 8 downloads

Would slipping some o-rings around the gearshift and into that channel be doable?  Basically I'm thinking that if I get one in there pressed onto the joint, the gear oil is thick enough that it might not seem through.  Outside of needing to change it fairly often (even if i grease the area a fair bit) would that hold the leak?

[grannyknot]

11 hours ago, chaseincats said:

Would slipping some o-rings around the gearshift and into that channel be doable?  Basically I'm thinking that if I get one in there pressed onto the joint, the gear oil is thick enough that it might not seem through.  Outside of needing to change it fairly often (even if i grease the area a fair bit) would that hold the leak?

But any Oring large enough to slip over the shifter housing wouldn't be tight enough to prevent oil from seeping out.  The oil up in that area is just from splash with no pressure, if dropping the trans is out of the question then you might get away with some simple packing.    You could try a length of kitchen cord or felt wound tightly around the gap between the trans and shifter housing and see if you can push it forward into the recess where the failed Oring is in the trans housing.  You only need something to wipe the oil off of the rod.

Might be worth a try.

[chaseincats]

2 hours ago, grannyknot said:

But any Oring large enough to slip over the shifter housing wouldn't be tight enough to prevent oil from seeping out.  The oil up in that area is just from splash with no pressure, if dropping the trans is out of the question then you might get away with some simple packing.    You could try a length of kitchen cord or felt wound tightly around the gap between the trans and shifter housing and see if you can push it forward into the recess where the failed Oring is in the trans housing.  You only need something to wipe the oil off of the rod.

Might be worth a try.

That's awesome, I will definitely give this method a shot, thanks!

Edited March 20, 2019 by chaseincats

[jonathanrussell]

My concern about trying to seal your leak from the outside is that the shift mechanism rotates left and right all the time when making shifts. I think that whatever you do from the outside will fail to seal, get lodged, etc.

I replaced the seals in my shift mechanism last summer and if I recall, in addition to the O ring, there was also a little seal. The hardest part of the job (for me) was removing the fork from the shift rod. There is a wedge bolt and nut. The wedge bolt is kind of like the wedge bolt that keeps the rear suspension spindle pin from rotating. It was really hard to get enough leverage to push out the wedge bolt, simultaneously being careful to not bend / break anything. Heat was the key and @EuroDat was a huge help giving me some advice. After that, it was an easy job and now I have no leaks. I was also getting gear oil filling up the cavity where the gear shift lever attaches to the trans. I also took this opportunity to check the bearings and replace all other seals and gaskets.

Edited March 20, 2019 by jonathanrussell
clarify

[chaseincats]

57 minutes ago, jonathanrussell said:

My concern about trying to seal your leak from the outside is that the shift mechanism rotates left and right all the time when making shifts. I think that whatever you do from the outside will fail to seal, get lodged, etc.

I replaced the seals in my shift mechanism last summer and if I recall, in addition to the O ring, there was also a little seal. The hardest part of the job (for me) was removing the fork from the shift rod. There is a wedge bolt and nut. The wedge bolt is kind of like the wedge bolt that keeps the rear suspension spindle pin from rotating. It was really hard to get enough leverage to push out the wedge bolt, simultaneously being careful to not bend / break anything. Heat was the key and @EuroDat was a huge help giving me some advice. After that, it was an easy job and now I have no leaks. I was also getting gear oil filling up the cavity where the gear shift lever attaches to the trans. I also took this opportunity to check the bearings and replace all other seals and gaskets.

Where did you get all your seals?  I was having difficulty finding some (the shifter seal you mentioned for example since it rarely fails).

EDIT:

Also, I was planning on greasing the hell out of whatever I put in there so that its wear is minimal which I feel should help.  

Grannyknot - if I can get some sort of VERY stretch o-ring to get on there, would that be better or is there a reason something absorbent like felt or kitchen cord be better?

Edited March 20, 2019 by chaseincats

[jonathanrussell]

I bought them from Courtesy Nissan. But, it was a couple of years ago when I bought so I don't know. 

If I were looking to buy today and they were unavailable I am pretty sure I could find the same sizes from other generic sources.

Edited March 20, 2019 by jonathanrussell

[chaseincats]

Just now, jonathanrussell said:

I bought them from Courtesy Nissan. But, it was a couple of years ago when I bought so I don't know. 

If I were looking to buy today and they were unavailable I am pretty sure I could find the same sizes from other generic sources.

The o-ring should be easy to find, but the seal is custom molded though, isn't it?

[jonathanrussell]

My recollection is that it looks like most any other seal...inner dimension, width, outer dimension. I have a spare or two but am traveling for a bit so can't photo / measure.

 

[chaseincats]

1 minute ago, jonathanrussell said:

My recollection is that it looks like most any other seal...inner dimension, width, outer dimension. I have a spare or two but am traveling for a bit so can't photo / measure.

 

Gotcha, going to give sealing it from the outside a shot first - hopefully that will work