Leak stop quick fix for manual trans?

[maxmays]

Hello all:

 

As I'm still a newbie, and after trying to search the forums for an answer, I have another question. I have a pretty good leak in the gear oil from the manual transmission. I changed the gear oil on Sunday using just the basic 80w-90 as recommended by my Haynes manual. Had metal shavings on the drain plug but nothing like chunks of metal or anything. But from just driving short distances, I was out of gear oil again as of last night. The dipstick came broken on the car, so I have no way of knowing exactly how much was still in there, but when pointed downhill last night it had a hard time starting, and once started it would whine audibly in 1st & 2nd gears, less so in 3rd, and none in 4th. Didn't get it up to fifth as it's just city driving. Looking at it from the top of the engine this morning I was able to see leftover moisture that appeared to be coming from the top of the transmission where it joins the engine block, above the dipstick hole. I'm thinking I must have a bad seal along there somewhere. My question is, since I'm short of funds right now as well as time, is there some kind of quick fix I can do to slow or stop the leak for the next 5,000-10,000 miles or so, until I can do some work on it? Or is there an easy-out to resealing it that I don't know about? There's virtually no info in Haynes about this kind of thing.

 

Vehicle is 1989 GL-10 Touring Wagon, spfi, 5 spd manual, selective 4wd.

 

Thanks,

 

Max

[maxmays]

Sorry to seem repetitive, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? Could it be the rear main seal causing gear oil leakage at that spot?

 

Thanks again,

 

Max

[idosubaru]

can you give a better description of where it's leaking from? a photo of the leak would be awesome. a leak on top the transmission sounds really weird, so that's why i'm asking for more details.

 

i'd expect a leak at the rear output shaft, the axle stubs or the drain plug. those are the main leak points.

 

the manual doesn't say much because transmission leaks aren't common and typically are very easy to figure out. if it's leaking out the rear, it's the rear output shaft seal. same for the front two diff/axle stub seals.

 

if it is coming from between the engine and trans that's not a good thing as i just worked on a transmission last night and there's definitely no external seal there that would be easy to get to. and if there was i don't think it would be worth the effort to replace it. the transmission may be fine, but it also might be toast. running without oil ruins things quickly.

[heartless]

seems to me that if the dipstick is broken/missing, it could be throwing oil up thru the tube to the top of the tranny...just a thought....

might try tracking down a dipstick for it at junk yards or from other board members.

[maxmays]

Thanks for the advice. You were both right The pattern of the gear oil on top of the transaxle (towards the passenger's side around the dipstick hole) indicated that since the dipstick was broken and only the handle part of it covered the hole, that oil was splashing out of it. Also, when I did the gear oil change Sunday, I neglected to confirm that I had the right torque on the drain plug, plus I relied on the original metal gasket being an adequate seal. I have basically mulch for a parking spot at home, so when I pulled into a gas station earlier today to pour some gear oil in, I was able to see a consistent dripping from the drain plug. I almost immediately went to the store for some high-temp RTV, and in the parking lot with tools and oil catcher drained the quart or so of oil left in the transaxle, cleaned the plug and the hole, and put rtv on the metal gasket. Used the torque wrench to get it where it needed to be (definitely tighter than before). After waiting a bit I filled the gear oil with 4 quarts, carefully watching the drip. The drip had slowed considerably, although not 100% since the rtv hadn't had quite enough time to fully set. But throughout the afternoon and evening I did lots of stop-and-go driving, and of course, no leaks! So basically, I was a newbie doofus! :-\ Thanks for the advice folks!

 

Max