Mystery Fluid - water? from transmission bell housing (1 Viewer)

[Peter the OK]

Newbie here, but I did search. I promise.

I just got my 2000 LC home. 220k miles. Not the best condition, but I don’t intend to treat it delicately so that’s fine.

Jacked up the front end to work on the steering rack bushings (VSC deploys on highway - very scary) when water starts dripping off the bottom of the transmission bell housing flange. Smells musty. Ok then. Clearly I have a drain issue with my AC.

Here’s the problem. The water won’t completely evaporate. 3 foot long puddle formed initially and then partially evaporated to leave behind an oily stain.

It’s not coolant. Wrong smell.
It’s not oil. It partially evaporated.
It's not brake fluid. The reservoir is brown as maple syrup.

What fluid runs above the transmission that could drip down it?
Could my AC water have oil in it?
Why am I here, and who can I blame for my existence?

I throw myself on the mercy of the Land Cruiser gods and pray they are generous and pleased.

Peter the pretty good

 

[2001LC]

It would be very hard for A/C drain water to get on top of transmission. You do have heater hoses, pipes (heater tees) and rear water bypass joint that coolant runs through. This is all at rear of engine and could appear to come off transmission. Sometime people just put water in cooling system, not good.

Also the engine valley has two drains in rear of engine block on either side of starter. Any fluid their will run down inside bell housing and come out weep hole. Raising front end will till engine just right to get and leftover fluid from valley. Fluid could be from cleaning engine or a engine leak.

Starter removed, two valley drain holes. Drains to back of engine comes out weep hole.

 

[Peter the OK]

It would be very hard for A/C drain water to get on top of transmission. You do have heater hoses, pipes (heater tees) and rear water bypass joint that coolant runs through. This is all at rear of engine and could appear to come off transmission. Sometime people just put water in cooling system, not good.

Also the engine valley has two drains in rear of engine block on either side of starter. Any fluid their will run down inside bell housing and come out weep hole. Raising front end will till engine just right to get and leftover fluid from valley. Fluid could be from cleaning engine or a engine leak.
View attachment 1804147 Starter removed, two valley drain holes. Drains to back of engine comes out weep hole.
View attachment 1804150
View attachment 1804148

Holy Carp! I wish the rest of my life had a forum like this. Knowledgeable, fast answers with diagrams and experience???

I didn't think about areas the fluid could pool on top of the engine. I engineer gerotor lube and scavenge pumps for gas turbine engines (for flight). We always have a requirement to prove that there can be no puddling on the pump castings with the engine in its rest orientation. They do this just for this reason, and for nuclear and biological weapons reasons on attack aircraft. i guess I was lucky I haven't yet driven KLEMAQ thru any clouds of anthrax or perfume.

2001LC - did you have these pictures on tap ready to roll? If not, kudos to your ability to generate visuals in an instant!

I feel quite a bit better about my semi-puddle now. Thank you!!!

 

[2001LC]

Your welcome!

If you click through my links below, you'll see many pictures I hope are helpful to all.

As you can see I've thousands of post and hundreds of threads. In each restore project I do, I always start with same procedure. That is remove all 3 shielding above and below. Then I inspect with camera, flash light and mirror in hand. Number one I look for before cleaning, is leaks. Then after intense cleaning of undercarriage and engine, I inspect again. Pictures now help me focus on wet spots (leaks) I've cleaned away, watching to see if they return or were just some spliage.

You'll also see what to expect with the age and mileage your at.

I'm in DTC area fill free to PM me. My door is always open to Local mudder's.

Have fun KLEMAQ.

 

[Peter the OK]

Your welcome!

If you click through my links below, you'll see many pictures I hope are helpful to all.

As you can see I've thousands of post and hundreds of threads. In each restore project I do, I always start with same procedure. That is remove all 3 shielding above and below. Then I inspect with camera, flash light and mirror in hand. Number one I look for before cleaning, is leaks. Then after intense cleaning of undercarriage and engine, I inspect again. Pictures now help me focus on wet spots (leaks) I've cleaned away, watching to see if they return or were just some spliage.

You'll also see what to expect with the age and mileage your at.

I'm in DTC area fill free to PM me. My door is always open to Local mudder's.

Have fun KLEMAQ.

Very cool. I am up 285 in Conifer. I plan to use the CTS (Colorado Toyota Specialists) there. Hear anything good/bad about them?

Headed camping to Moab in a couple weeks. Hoping KLEMAQ the VI is in shape to play. I previously had my stock 2003 Sequoia (KLEMAQ the V) thru Fins N' Things and only had issue with the hitch receiver. Also had KLEMAQ V up Argentine Pass. This is addicting.

 

[2001LC]

I Don't know CTS. Many around claim to be Toyota specialist. Very few specialize in the 100 series.