oil leak... again..

[Dave WM]

I thought I had a transmission leak at the reverse light switch, but I fear its the front cover plate area. I get oil right at the weep hole of the plate between the trans and engine, the oil looks clean like transmission oil, there is oil (a fair amount) coming from the clutch fork boot. there is oil right at the engine to trans bolt area on the passenger side only, looks like its damp with oil but above the oil pan gasket (right below the starter), no oil above the starter.

So we are off to pulling the trans and getting a look see what is going on. The good thing is I know it will come apart easy since so just have to plan a few hours to get the car up on jacks and have enough room to get the trans jack in there and pull the transmission out. I don't want to do a front plate install under the car.

I imagine the clutch plate could be oil soaked but I have no evidence of slippage. Not sure if I want to pull the pressure plate/flywheel off to inspect the rear main IF I find the smoking gun at the trans front cover. will have to make that call when I get in there. the rear main seal is only about 6-7k old .

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Dave WM

[Reptoid Overlords]

Before I replaced my engine, I replaced the rear main on the original engine. Probably about 1200 miles before I pulled it out of the car. Once on the stand, I noticed it was leaking again.

It was a Fel-pro rear main. I oiled it, and installed it per the FSM. Making sure not to get it too far in. I even went as far as to get 2 seals in case I screwed one up.

Nevertheless, it was leaking. But it wasn't visible unless the flywheel and dust plate were out of the way.

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[Dave WM]

if its the rear main I will go with a Nissan seal. Mine is a felpro as well, I goofed the Nissan I had during the 1st try at the install. Like you I lubed it up think it was vasoline, but cant recall. I did install it dry on the outside (no sealer) if that matters. I also had a rear main side seal leak that I installed new side seals with the FSM directed sealer at the bottom and side of the bearing holder.

I am hoping its just the transmission front seal or paper seal around the cover plate. But I will prob pull the flywheel to check that main seal anyway...

Edited October 8, 2019 by Dave WM

[Zed Head]

I had one that leaked at the clutch fork pivot ball.  Its hole is a through-hole to the oil-wetted area.  Someone must have removed it and reinstalled it without sealant.  Took me a while to figure out.  Oil leaked down the fork, through the boot.  There's really no way for oil to get on to the fork except from the pivot ball

[Dave WM]

14 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

I had one that leaked at the clutch fork pivot ball.  Its hole is a through-hole to the oil-wetted area.  Someone must have removed it and reinstalled it without sealant.  Took me a while to figure out.  Oil leaked down the fork, through the boot.  There's really no way for oil to get on to the fork except from the pivot ball

great info ZH, I may have removed it and not realized it was a thru hole. I certainly don't recall using any sealer there.

[Zed Head]

I put a good gob of black silicone on it and reinstalled.  I never got it back in the car but I did refill it with fluid and stand it on end to cover the hole with fluid.  It didn't leak.

[Dave WM]

looks like just a little bit from both the trans and the engine. I have a rear main seal leak (side seals look ok) and a kinda all over leak from the trans front cover. Funny I see I did use some sealant on the pivot ball, but it still shows leakage. I will get some decent photos tomorrow when I get better light. Think I will pop for the Nissan rear main this time, and will look very closely for any score marks on the crankshaft. I have a spare trans that I have been wanting to try out, so I think I will do the front cover on it (it shows signs of leakage as well) and the input shaft seal as well. Will take a look at the rear seal and see how it looks. You can clearly see the paper gasket of the front cover is saturated with oil (the tiny bit that sticks out around the sides) I suppose that is normal since it is paper. I will use a VERY thin coat of the gray sealant on the gasket this time, OR maybe the spray on kind would be better (more even coverage).

[Dave WM]

pix

 

[Zed Head]

Don't forget to look for cracks.  I think that some of the attaching bolts can leak through the threads also.  Seal the bolt threads.

[Dave WM]

while I am waiting for the main bearing seal as well as new input and output and gasket for the transmission I decided to make my own gasket using the old as a pattern. I had some oil proof gasket material on hand, same thickness as OE gasket (which came out very clean). I used brake clean to make sure everything was dry, lubed up the ball bearings with some assy lube, greased up the input shaft seal (the old one looked fine, this is the spare untested transmission), made sure the shim was in place with a dab of grease, then used some Permatex anaerobic gasket maker/sealer. It says ok to use as a dressing for a gasket or to make a gasket. Its very viscous I dab some on the front cover and smeared it all around where the gasket will mate, put the gasket on the front cover, then smeared it around the case on the bell housing where the front cover mates to. I was careful not to over apply or get near the bearings, not sure if that would hurt or not, but why chance it. bolted it up, torqued to 15ft lbs in a cross pattern. I stood the trans up on some 2*6's to the input shaft would not get in the way and put about 3/4 of a quart of MT 90 in it. I will check it later to see if there are any leaks. I know this is not a good simulation of how it will be in service but what the heck better than no test at all.

Oh and I used the same sealer on the cleaned bolts and the pivot bolt. They all had lock washers as well.

[Dave WM]

all back together. I made a seal installing driver out of some 1" oak and a 3.25" hold saw, worked great. If you look at the pics of the main seal you can see it not seated perfectly flush on the very bottom. I used a piece of scrap wood and just tapped around the perimeter, this time I wanted it to be more precise and it is.

On the front cover, I think used the rebuild kit supplied gasket originally when I did the rebuild. I looked at the Nissan gasket and it looks more engineered. there is a raised ridge all around the sealing surface that looks like it would add to sealing. After seeing it I wanted to undo my home made gasket I used last nite on the spare trans (that I put in) but I realized that the Permatex anaerobic gasket sealer is for real, the front cover is not coming off without a fight, so I decided to just leave it be. I think it would take some heat from a heat gun on the front cover to get it loose. So I will hang on to the Nissan gasket, maybe use on the leaky rebuilt trans (the one I pulled out that was clearly leaking from the aftermarket gasket).

I took the spare trans around the block, everything seemed fine, so a will have to take it out on a freeway shakedown. Hope this ends the leaks. I feel the Nissan rear main went in well so fingers crossed on that one. The spare trans will just have to wait and see if the homemade gasket with the good sealer will work out.

I am getting pretty good at getting the z up on the jack stands, the 12t or overkill but I like the "wide stance" that they have. I just have to take the car down in stages, drop the front to the jacks at the lowest stage (from about 6" lift from the top of the jackstand at the highest, about 30" clear space under the car), then I can take the back all the way down off the jacks but leaving the diff hyd jack in place holding up the rear about 4" but with wheel touching, then I pull front jack stands out completely and lower the crossmember jack all the way, then back to the rear, let the rear down completely.

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by Dave WM

[Dave WM]

80 mile freeway speed test hop went well, trans shifts nicely, no odd noises, No rattling from timing chain, got it over the cardboard oil leak tester. I still need to do a few things, like replace the noisy fan belt with a new one so I don't have to run it too tight. Double check for water leaks, Yesterday I worked on the EVAP system from the vapor separator tank to the carbon canister. Turns out it was severely block from both sides but the middle part of the line (metal under the floor pan) was clear. I got some 5/16 nylon hard fuel line, it slips perfectly over the 1/4 metal line. I plumbed the front part from the canister to the metal line a little under the fire wall. Later I will plumb the back side to the vapor tank. The 5/16 is a bit too tight to fit easy thru the rubber insulators that used to mount the metal hard line. It can be done but not easy.