Big leak at tranny/driveshaft

[axgutt]

'95 Legacy Wagon with 295,000 miles, auto tranny (replaced a little over 60,000 miles ago). At the end of a road trip we noticed a burning smell, and when we got home there was lots of ATF fluid leaking from somewhere. I moved it outside and let it sit for a week until I could buy a giant pan, jack it up and take a good look. Medium story short, when I start it up there is a steady stream of ATF fluid coming out where the driveshaft connects to the AT. I checked the ATF fluid before and after and it definitely dropped from medium to low in a couple of minutes. It stops dripping when the engine is off.

 

So I looked in my Haynes manual and it sounds like it could be a bad extension housing seal. If that failed, would this happen so suddenly? It's certainly beyond my skill level to take this on myself. About how many hours of labor am I probably looking at for this $10 part? Is this something a general repair shop can probably handle, or a transmission shop? Unfortunately the mechanic I trusted retired last year.

[Fairtax4me]

So it's leaking from the very back of the transmission? Is it coming out of the driveshaft seal or is it forward of that?

The extension/ tail housing seal shouldn't be too difficult to repair. Pretty sure it can be done with the trans in the car. Ill have to check out the FSM when I get home.

[bstone]

You can do extension housing with trans still in car. Some of the bolts are a bit tough to get to. I can't say if it's the ext housing that is leaking but just confirming you don't need to drop the entire trans.

[Fairtax4me]

Two things: make sure it's not the cooler line leaking around the banjo bolt where it goes into the case.

There also appears to be a plug on the extension housing for the transfer clutch pressure feed. Make sure it's not leaking there.