After I got done slapping some front brake pads on my pickup the other day, I took it for a test spin and then pulled into the driveway and parked it.
I was out getting the mail yesterday and as I was walking back towards the house I see this crap under my truck.
What the fuck now?
Just out of the blue something starts leaking?
So I skinnied under the cocksucker to see if I could figure out what it was and where it was coming from.
Transmission fluid.
WTF?
Get this, coming from the middle of the front driveline yoke behind the U Joint.
WTF?
You can see the rear seal is basically dry and you can also see where it was slinging it onto the catalytic converter.
There was actually a drop hanging off the bottom U Joint cap there, this is after I wiped it off.
This is something I haven’t seen before.
This transmission was literally rebuilt right before I got this truck and I was even given the receipt for it.
Off to the Internet I go.
Could be a couple of things apparently.
Could be an O ring inside the tail shaft housing or it could be a little metal plug in the end of the yoke much like a freeze plug.
Since I am both lazy and a bit of a gambler, I opted for the quick and dirty attempt at a solution here.
This stuff is The Shit.
It beats regular RTV silicone like a red headed step child.
It’s also expensive, $25 for that little Cheeze Whiz can.
So I sprayed an entire can of Brake Clean up in between the yoke and the U Joint, wiped it off as best I could and then shot a VERY liberal amount of this Right Stuff up in there and spread it around with a flat blade screwdriver.
It is curing as I type.
If it fixes it cool.
If it doesn’t, I’m going to take the fucker somewhere and let somebody else headache with the bastard.
I’m not laying on a slanted slab of concrete under the sonofabitch and pulling the driveline, yoke and ass end of the transmission out.
Fuck That.
I’m flat out getting too old for that shit and I already have a To Do list that would choke a horse.
A few years ago, I did a brake job on my 2010 Scion xD.
Went pretty smooth, all new parts. Went for a test drive, and heard a hell of a grinding noise from the front right.
Back up on jack stands, pull tire off, and that’s how I found out you can put a brake pad in backwards.
Sure you didn’t squeeze fluid out the top of the brake fluid reservoir when you widened the calipers to get the pads in?
Don’t ask how I know…
Been there,done that too.
No, this is definitely transmission fluid.
Your baby popped her cherry… I have seen that. It comes through the yoke and drips out around the U-joint.
I trust you’ve sorted it out: it certainly doesn’t look like the seal. That would throw fluid out all around the shaft/seal gap. If you’re forced to go to a mechanic, remember it’s not polite to strangle anybody until AFTER they give you the bill.
That Permatex rubber sealant is really ‘that good’. I got a tube for $10 at an O’Reillys, use it on tire repair (mower), reseals stovetop gasket, hummingbird feeder, and use it to firm-up the sun visor snap and stop the vibration.
There’s a weep hole in the center of the yoke, to prevent fluid building up between the end of the output shaft and the yoke and not allowing the yoke to slide forward on the shaft (‘hydraulic lock’).
Since you park it facing uphill on the driveway, there is enough fluid in the tail housing ( courtesy of a cap plug in an oil passage that is drilled to spray fluid towards the rear bushing in the tail housing [the yoke rides in it] and incidentally lube the shaft-yoke junction) that oil pools in the tail housing against the seal, rises to the level of the inside of the yoke, then migrates down the shaft splines to the inside of the yoke.
You probably found the best fix……..I personally think the designer of that weep hole was being overly paranoid about the possibility of hydraulic lock, I’ve never seen a TH-350 / 700R4 / 4L60E output shaft fit THAT tightly into the yoke, and I probably did 4-500 of those units in 12 years.
There ya go Phil, a tranny guy! (pun not intended) So, by his description you are pretty lubed up, ATF is whole lot better then KY…
You have to have fluid in the tailshaft to lube the bushing that supports the yoke which should not rattle around so if the seal isn’t leaking then it’s the knockout plug in the yoke. I’ve seen the yoke bottom out because of bad engine and trans mounts letting engine shift to the rear or rear axel shift or axel wrap up. Doing any power launches lately? Just another fun day.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. Want to take bets that the spline shaft that pokes into the trans is hollow and has a plug screwed into the hidden end inside the yoke end?
I would unbolt the spicer and lower the drive shaft then shine a flashlight on the yoke sticking out of the trans. From that picture the seal looks dry and the splatter seems to be farther away from the seal than I would expect.
I have dealt with a lot of strange things on RWD vehicles over they ears, not this in particular but it might just be the cause.
make sure the trans is not overfilled….
That’s messed up.
Let’s hope you didn’t over do the RTV. They don’t call it quick and dirty for nothing.
It’s doing something it wasn’t doing before so something changed.
Check the top vent on the trans to make sure it isn’t plugged.
Otherwise, just lift the dipstick up enough for the trans to vent and take her out for another run to check.
My GM has that locking dipstick on it and it took three output shaft seals before I thought to check the vent………. and yet another Tourette’s episode.
I had the exact same thing happen in my 82 GMC. It was puking puddles of transmission fluid every other month or so. The transmission shop glued a plug over that weep hole from the inside.
I sold it 3 months later. Less than a month after that the new owner had it back in the same shop for a soft rebuild.