Leaking more Tranny Fluid than back alley in Thailand

[viracocha]

Well...maybe not quite that bad.

Got a quote for $1100 to re-seal the Transfer Case. Seems high? I'm dumb when it comes to autos. I've learned a bunch from this site, but don't have the confidence to try something like this with my daily driver LC. I thought it was a failed gasket for the transmission pan.

I've had a **** of a time finding a good shop near me in Denver, CO. I've searched a bunch in the forums, but haven't found much. Any suggestions?

1991 Land Cruiser, 195k miles, I think it's original transmission.

 

[86tuning]

First things first. Go get a can of engine cleaner from your FLAPS (friendly local auto parts store)
and clean that thing up so that you can find the source of the leaks.

If you have some Castrol Super Clean or Fantastik in the cupboard under the sink, these things will work fine as well. Spray it on, allow it to sit for a bit (10mins) and then hit it with a bristle brush and then a garden hose.

After it's cleaned up, you can start it up and LOOK for the source of the oil. And the color of the oil.

 

[dannyp]

Is it transmission fluid or gear oil? If its the transfer case seals leaking gear oil thats probobly fair if they do both front and rear and correctly.

 

[jonheld]

ATF should be in the transmission and 80W90 gear oil should be in the transfer case.
As suggested, clean things up and check levels and fluid type.

 

[RC5280]

mechanic

Slee in Golden is a great shop. Give them a call.

 

[viracocha]

Thanks for the suggestions

I cleaned it up over the weekend and it is indeed leaking transmission fluid. I see red oil leaking, but it's hard to identify the exact source. But it definitely doesn't look like it's coming from the pan. It seems like it's coming from what I shot in the pictures above.

That's weird that they told me they need to re-seal the transfer case if it's gear oil? I'll call Slee. I didn't know they did work like this.

Thanks.

 

[Kernal]

What oil type is in the transfer case, and is there a weep hole between the transmission and transfer case in your model? Can you post up some new (focused) photos of that area after it's cleaned off?

 

[86tuning]

The output seal of the trans is between the trans and xfer case. If red trans oil is seeping from the xfer case then I'd suspect the output seal. Either take it to slee or to your local Toyota dealer... unless you want to try repairing it yourself. Keep in mind that the xfer case is quite heavy and that a transmission jack could help you avoid an accident when taking it out and putting it back.

One more thing, I'd check the xfer case oil to be sure that it's not ATF leaking from there. The spec oil is GL5 gear oil, although it's possible for a previous repair shop to put in ATF, or another red gear oil like Redline or similar. No sense in repairing the trans if it's actually from the xfer case, like the shop says it is.

If you don't want to drain the fluid you could open the fill plug and dip a q-tip in there to check fluid type.