tranny leak at the support studs? fix?

bob tilton · bob tilton's Garage

discovered a few swepco gear oil drips on the garage floor. without digging too deep, leak appears to be coming from the front right stud of the tranny support. is this a common leak area or should i be investigating elswhere? cleaned up the area as you can see a fine film swepco on the edges of the tranny support as well. will take another look in the morning. how should i go about fixing this? tranny was recently rebuilt and new clutch package installed. new flywheel seal and seated properly.
thanks in advance.

Eugene at Pelican Parts · 03-22-2004, 10:44 PM

It's highly unlikely those studs were even touched during the overhaul. I'd guess it's the end cover gasket. Perhaps the mating surfaces weren't scraped clean enough on both sections of the case.

UTKarmann_Ghia · 03-23-2004, 05:35 AM

That gasket is pretty easy to replace once you drop the tranny. There's also the reverse light washer and the seal for the gear selector, but it doesnt appear that those are leaking (they are more forward, but it's hard to say).

Superman · 03-23-2004, 05:49 AM

For reasons I do not understand, gear oil flows in ways other liquids cannot. It can fool you. Those studs are not leaking. The oil is coming from somewhere else.

Jim Sims · 03-23-2004, 05:49 AM

Other possibilities are speedo drive seal or the vent is oriented wrong (this usually makes a leak futher back though but it cound run forward and drip off the mounts). The vent opening should face in the 90 degree forward sector. If you have a 901 I believe the speedo seal is fairly easy to change with the tranmission in the car. Cheers, Jim

bob tilton · bob tilton's Garage

thanks for the input guys. i was able to spend a little time under the car this evening and it appears to be leaking where the tranny and support meets - see pic. i cked all other areas (flywheel seal and shift rod seal) for leaks with no luck. i don't know where that vent is that is mentioned. the support was removed when the tranny was rebuilt. i pulled the tranny myself and remember painting the support while the mechanic rebuilt the tranny. so it looks like the 2 surfaces are not mating flat? anyway i could only think to torgue the nuts down a bit, ck the 20 mm bolt attachments to the trailing arm area, and top off the gear oil. guess i'll just keep an eye on it.
any other suggestions? should it continue to leak i guess i'll need to remove the support and sand the areas flat?