I have recently noticed fluid coming from my transfer case (It seems to be a pretty slow leak). It appears that the fluid is coming from the seal (which is definetly silicone seal). I talked to the transmission shop and they said that inorder to fix this they need to remove the rear driveshaft and then dissasemble the whole t-case (5 hours=$500bucks ). The guy in the shop told me that I need to check my level regularly, and if all is well I can have it done this fall beecause I wont be using my 4wheel drive much this summer.
Any adivice/ tips?? Has anyone lse noticed this problem on their 3rd gen? Any info is helpful

 

I don't think so. I had a leaky seal in mine, a 3rd gen '98 and I just dropped the driveshaft, pull the companion flange, pulled the old seal, popped in the new seal, put the companion flange back on and reconn'd the drive shaft. about 30 minutes and $6. the seals on the tcase are easier to pound in then the ones on the axle or the diffs.

 

I know exactly what you are talking about however the leak that I noticed was gear oil (not grease) and I just went out to check my level on the t-case and it was like the fill plug was hand tightened!! The SOB tranny shop guys barely tightend the plug and oil came out of the hole (possibly overfilled??) So i may not have a leaking main seal after all because it appears that the idiots at the shop are trying to pull a fast one on me!!!

From what I understand the top fluid level should touch your finger when you stick it in the hole which is exactly where i am at right now. I will check tomorrow to see if it is still leaking after some driving. :alien:

 

Also-- I had quite a bit of fluid drain out of the fill hole when I took it off. Is this normal??

 

no, it's supposed to be filled "to" the bottom of the fill hole.

fluid can leak out the companion flange seals too. I wasn't talking about grease either. when mine leaked out the seal it was gear oil, from the front output flange. I replaced the companion flange seal and the gear oil no longer leaked. I'm not sure I understand where grease would leak out.

 

How much came out? Some leaking out is fairly normal, if they filled untill it starts to dribble out, like I do. If it POURED out, then it sounds like they overfilled it on purpose to create too much pressure and push it out of your already leaking seal in an attempt to make you come back and have them charge you $500 to fix a $15 seal and a half hour labor. But I really hope they arent out to get you.


Try to figure out EXACTLY where the oil is coming from. If its coming from the flange, then its the seal. If from somewhere else, then you would need to tear the t-case down and replace the seal. Chances are its just the output flange seal. You will need a 30mm socket and either air tools or a nice big breaker bar. Have a nice big oil pan ready to catch the gear oil that will spill out of the output flange when you take it off. Then refill it with new lube.

 

Thanks Guys-

I really hope that they did dot mess something up. However when I took the fill bolt out, quite a bit of fluid did come out and it wasn't dribbling. My initial thoughts were that it was leaking from the main seal that is a red colored silicone. I may have mistook this for simply a overfill with a crappy job of tightening the bolt. I hope everything turns out okay, I let all the excess fluid drain and tightened the bolt correctly. I have learned my lesson and I am planning on checking and redoing the front and rear diffs just incase there werent any other mistakes done by these idiots!!!

Thanks for your help guys.

 

It has been a week since I tightened the fill plug and no leaks!!!
I am going to call the shop (cottman transmission) and do some serious complaining tomorrow. I also checked my rear diff and that seemed to be overfilled and dirty(it looked like they didn't even change it).

What do you guys think?? In March I paid $150 for a full tranny flush and fill and a rear diff, front diff and transfer fluid change. Do I trust them to have a second chance at correcting their horrible job! But how can I trust that they will do a decent job the second time? I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I have about had it with this ˟˟˟˟˟˟ "transmission" shop. I honestly feel much more comfortable doing this procedure myself but there is the money issue. Should I demand a refund?

 

you didn't happen to go through any deep (over the diff) muddy water lately? do you have a breather extension?

 

Negative on the breather extension. I have not done any offroading yet, just a lot of street driving. Is it worth it to do this even iff I don't do any offroading? I thought it would be worth the time because I do tow and launch my boat frequently.

 

if you forsee yourself going through water above the diff it is a good cheap insurance to extend it (rear). even on the street here in Houston you can't be too sure because it can flood in under an hour after it starts raining. I think stealers should be required to extend breathers in places like this. most people who aren't wheelers haven't a clue that water can even get in there let alone ruin a diff.

 

That makes sense. I ran into a flooded rod last weekend and I tried to avoid the deep part but it probably could have been up to the diff. Why would toyota have one in the front but not in the rear??

 

it beats me. but even the one in front is a little low. alot of people extend them both, putting the front one higher up in the engine bay. even my manual tranny has one that I could extend but it would be a pain. I saw it when I pulled the console and shift lever to replace the seat bushing.