Typical place for T-5 trans to leak

[vrinner]

Got a leak in my trans. Pulled the car out of the garage and the shifting was clunky. Pulled back in the garage and yup...a nice big puddle of tranny fluid.

Any typical place for these things to fail?

[Patrick]

It's either leaking at the input shaft seal (dripping off the bellhousing) or the tailshaft housing (dripping on to the catalytic converter).

[MikeFleming]

There's only a few - normal - places for leaks. Since it sits most of the time, I'll count out the top cover and shifter cover where oil can splash to when the gears are spinning.

Input shaft seal, input shaft bearing retainer to front case (silicone, no gasket), main case-to-tailhousing-case (silicone, no gasket), tailhousing rear seal (driveshaft snout). and cracks in the main case or tailhousing. Rare, but they do happen.

It's also possible for fluid to escape from the drain plug, fill plug, reverse shaft pivot bolt, and reverse light switch hole. All of those, except the drain plug, are above the static fluid level, except the fill plug with is right at the static ldvel.

[vrinner]

Resurrecting this thread...


There's only a few - normal - places for leaks. Since it sits most of the time, I'll count out the top cover and shifter cover where oil can splash to when the gears are spinning.

Input shaft seal, input shaft bearing retainer to front case (silicone, no gasket), main case-to-tailhousing-case (silicone, no gasket), tailhousing rear seal (driveshaft snout). and cracks in the main case or tailhousing. Rare, but they do happen.

It's also possible for fluid to escape from the drain plug, fill plug, reverse shaft pivot bolt, and reverse light switch hole. All of those, except the drain plug, are above the static fluid level, except the fill plug with is right at the static ldvel.

Figure I'd just pull the trans out seems as how I already have the motor out.

I didn't see any noticeable fluid when I pulled the bell housing off so it's not leaking from the input shaft.

I didn't see anything on the cat either however I did notice some near the shifter.

I turned the trans up on its end to see if anything leaks from the shifter (put a rag under the output end to stop it up) and a large amount of fluid came out of the shift lever. There is still rubber boot on it but a little stiff. Is it normal for this not to be a tight seal there or do I need to rebuild something in there?

[MikeFleming]

Yeah, there's a vent/drain hole in the shifter mechanism area where the fluid can (will) get to and drain out by gravity. Expected for it to leak there when it's upside down. Some folks like to fill the box from the top via that vent hole with the shift boot/console out of the way.

There is also a breather on the top cover.

[vrinner]

OK...then that doesn't explain where the oil is coming from. I checked around all the places things are bolted together and nothing had any major wet stuff. I guess it could have been seeping from the speedo cable but it didn't seem like an obvious leak there. Maybe I'll swap out the o-ring.