209trucker

Hey guys, another question.

My tranny's leaking fluid. Since I've had the truck (about 9 months) fluid has been leaking from where the dust cover would be (mine must have been misplaced)

I add about a pint every week and a half to two weeks. My dad told me it would be from the front pump seal. I hate having leaks and none of my other trucks do, but I'm wondering if that much would be a concern for the health of my transmission? I've never removed one by myself and I'm wondering if it will be worth the hassle. I know it's hard for anyone to say, seeing that I don't have the transmission out and none of you can see it. But I have a free weekend so I wanted to pull it and replace the seal and do my rear main.

Kind of going everywhere with this post, but supposedly the transmission was rebuild roughly 40k miles ago (no receipts or proof of rebuild from previous owner), and one main thing I'm worried about is if there's anything recommended to replace while I have it pulled, so I could just order parts and do the job another weekend. Again, since this is will be the first time I pull a tranny by myself I'm starting to get nervous about it.
Thanks for any help to this confusing post

Edit: Just to add a little more info, occasionally the truck will feel bogged down through first gear, and when it shifts to 2nd it'll get back up. But besides that, no hard shifts or slipping. And when I let off the throttle I feel a clunk, I will be replacing the U Joints as well.

rrgrassi

Sounds like the front seal on the transmission. If rebuilt 40,000 miles ago, that is pretty early for a leak like that, unless the torque converter was "stabbed" wrong into the tranny. I would consider a total rebuild by a good shop.

aicomp

Hi,
The trans is not hard to remove, just heavy. You can change the front seal without disassembling the trans. Hopefully that is all it is. Could have been stabbed wrong, or could have had a worn seal area on the torque converter .
My $.02
Mike

209trucker

rr, I'm hoping it was just stabbed wrong. For all I know, more seals could be coming. But that's the only tranny leaks I've had since I bought the truck. It had stopped leaking for a couple of days about a month after I purchased it, then it started leaking again. The guy said he rarely drove it, and that it hadn't been started or ran for 3? weeks before I went to look at it.

Ill find out what happened tonight, hopefully. I have no idea how long it'll take me to pull the transfer case and transmission so I guess we'll see. Thanks for the reassurance guys.

I just hope something else isn't going on in there, it's weird to me how the truck lugs down in first gear.

mknittle

Let us know what you find. Just be careful like Mike said they are heavy.

aicomp

Yes, Be careful. I had the transfercase slide off the cheap jack adapter I was using on the floor when my 2 post was down. It fell about a foot onto my chest. I still hurt to this day.
I did replace the pump seal without any dis assembly.
Mike

209trucker

I'll be sure to keep a close eye on everything. I have a home made adaptor with a ratchet strap on it that I borrowed from a friend of my grandpas, so hopefully that will help. I will report back tonight with how it went and snap a few pictures. Thank you for the replies.

When you replaced the seal, were you able to pry it out? Or did you thread screws into it and use a slide hammer like you would with the rear main?

simplysmn

you can pry them out pretty Easy.

209trucker

Well got started about an hour and a half or so ago and got the tcase pulled. But how do you get the fly wheel bolts out?? I got one loose but there's not enough room to pull the bolt out... How do I do this??

maybe368

Do you mean the bell housing bolts?...Mark

209trucker

Thank you for the quick reply, but I meant the fly wheel bolts. I got them out not quite sure how to get the shift linkage off?? Besides that, I can start pulling the tranny. Would like to get it out tonight so I can pressure wash and clean tomorrow and do my seals, and reinstall on Sunday.

maybe368

That is what is confusing me, I normally pull the tranny, then the flexplate. I have never pulled an auto from a Cummins, so am far from an expert. I didn't even know that you could pull the flexplate with the tranny still in. FWIW, I disconnect the Torque converter, usually 3 or 4 bolts, from the flexplate, then pull the tranny and torque converter together. Learn something new every day. I would think that you would have to assemble it separately, or it would be very difficult to torque the flexplate bolts, but what do I know?...Mark

ChrisLib

If you mean the torque converter bolts, there is an access hole on the pass side near the heat exchanger, you can get them out thru the inspection cover area on the bottom IF you have a stock flexplate. If you ever upgrade to and aftermarket flexplate you will need to go thru the access hole as the thicker plate wont allow doing those bolts from the bottom.

mknittle

That hurts just thinking about it!

aicomp

I pull and install the TC bolts through the inspection hole .
agood Luck,
Mike