I went up to NC and back today, and about half way up there, comeing up hwy. 515 I started noticeing purple looking smoke blowing out behind me. Now this kinda got a lump in my throat, because I was about 10 miles from Blue Ridge makeing it about a 10 mile walk in either direction to get to the nearest pay phone just in case something happend... I decided to keep going as the smoke wasn't to bad, there was just enough to make you notice. Made it to Blue Ridge and got out and looked under the car to see this. I made it up there and back fine, smokeing the whole way (at least no one rode my a$$ like they usually do). It was about a 200 mile round trip and I was loosing about a quart of ATF every 60 miles. What is this seal called and how much of a PITA is it going to be. I guess I really should have replaced all those seals and stuff before I put the trans in...
Its the rear tail shaft seal and it's the easiest seal to replace on a transmission. Might set you back a whole 12.00 bucks though. I would inspect the driveshaft yoke for wear and the frt universal joint as well.
Jamie, it's just a rear transmission seal. They are very easy to put in. Of course you'll need to remove your drive shaft and you'll possibly lose some fluid. If you raise the rear of the car only and get it pretty high, you may not lose any. Anyway, you'll need a thin bladed screw driver and small hammer. You can tap the screwdriver in between the seal and the transmission casing being careful not to gouge the aluminum housing. Just work from side to side and you can slowly work it out. I suggest a small block of wood on top of the new seal as you tap it back in and again, just work it in little by little from side to side making sure not to distort the seal. They make a tool for this but very few people have them so you can get by with the above mentioned tools, just work slow and careful or you'll wind back up in the same boat. The seal can be purchased at any parts house for less than $10. Good luck and Git-R-Done.
Jamie, they are correct. It's a piece of cake. While down there, check every thing for tightness or other leaks. Snug down on your tranny pan bolts just to make sure that there are no other leaks. NOTE: I tend to be heavy handed, so when dealing with short bolts such as oil pan, valve cover, tranny pan, I use a 1/4 in. drive ratchet and hold it down at the turning end. That way you can 'feel' the bolt. These bolts are easily broken. Good luck. Seth
jamie, it's a snap...Chris, put one in my '73 just the other day... be safe...i jacked up the rear..put it on jack stands...put a floor jack under the tailshaft and jacked it up a little...lost no fluid. check the u joints and the tailshaft mount, one or the other could cause the seal to go out. good luck ..frank...
Well the trans is out of the 4 door, only has little over 350 miles on it since being put in the Grabber now. So I would think it was more likely something in the 4 door that created the problem (or just the fact that its 32 years old). It's had a slight leak ever since I put it in, and leaked when in the 4 door, but I'm guessing running 80-85 mph for about 10 miles yesterday probably did it in. But, just to be safe, how do I check the u joints? Whats the tail shaft mount?
u joints jamie be carefull when you remove the rear u joint from the yoke that the caps don't fall off or you will lose the needle brgs and it's a lot of work trying to find all of them just remove the 4 nuts and 2 clamps and pry the shaft away from the yoke but hold the end caps so the can't come off
Is this only true of C4's? My Toploader dribbles and it seems that the seal needs to be replaced from inside the tail housing ...
One of the reasons that I make it standard practice to replace the front and rear seals in an auto trans when I have it out of the car. Especially the front one!
Ron, going by my grandpa's advice, I have taken the caps off purposely and set them aside when working on my truck and on this car. My grandpa says if the needles fall out, then its time for new ones. I even dropped one and still didn't have any needles fall out. He has kind of an old school way of doing things though.
that yoke looks like it should be deeper into the trans. do you have any vibration? should be about 3/4 inch from bottoming on the tailshaft. might want to check it while shaft is out.
I agree with grandpa on that one. If you don't take them off and inspect the needles you might miss a potential problem too.
