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5R55E Minor Drip Bottom ofBellhousing


jck_p

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Sorry if this has been addressed somewhere else on TRS but I can't find it if it has.

My 1999 Ranger 4x4, w/5R55E and 127K+ miles has developed a slight drip that I think is coming from the tranny. I'm gonna verify if it's tranny or not later today. Gonna clean everything, then run the truck for awhile and watch underneath and check the fluid level again.

Best description I can come up with is this. The drip is so slight that it doesn't leave spots anywhere. However, the lower bell housing has the "wet" look and has begun to accumulate crud. The trans pan further back has the same look now. It appears the drip is being blown back and is "spraying" the underside of the tranny. So the drip appears to be most significant when the truck is cruising & pulling? Then stops when the truck stops?

Like I said, there are never any drips on the ground under the truck. I park on a nice concrete slab under my carport and there are never any spots.

Depending what I find after my test, I'm wondering about stop leak products for such a minor leak. The truck/tranny run fine. In fact, I just returned from a 3000 mile trip with my slide-in popup camper mounted in the bed and had absolutely no issues, except the "wet" dirty look under the tranny.

Thoughts from anyone?

Jack
 
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FritzTKatt

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Check to make sure it's not motor oil. If it's coming from the bell housing then it is most likely motor oil.
 

RonD

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Yes, bell housing leak, if an automatic, is usually rear main seal on crankshaft.

This is a pressure leak so will leak more as time passes, and won't leak when engine is off.

But it is not impossible for front trans seal to leak, just less likely.

Lucas oil makes additives to swell "rubber" seals to slow or temporarily stop leaks of that nature.
 

jck_p

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Well, thanks for the input guys. I de-greased everything and let it idle for about 30 minutes and nothing. Took it out for about a 10 mile drive, letting it shift through all the gears getting up to 55+mph. Still no drips, or even seepage where I expected to see it. I still have my 1000# camper on it, too, for added stress testing. Just can't recreate the drip at this time. Everything I cleaned is still nice 'n' dry.

Checked my oil, its good even after that aforementioned 3000 mile trip - full and still relatively clean. Checked the trans fluid and its good as well - full and still red, not showing any of the telltale color changes or smelling bad. Coolant is good, too. IDK...

Maybe I pushed a little too hard at some point on one of my trips and forced some fluid out one of the vent tubes or something? Transfer case uses same fluid, right? And has a vent tube up on top? It doesn't look like anything has been coming out of the tranny vent tube on the lower drivers side.

Question: Does the fluid flow and create pressure throughout the tranny AND the transfer case at the same time under normal operating conditions? Is it essentially the same system? Even in 2WD mode?

Guess I'll continue to watch it and at the first sign of a drip I'll try again to get the color.

So, I manged to kill a couple hours this afternoon, and burn myself on the hot exhaust, but I guess it was worth it cuz I don't think I have any serious issues - yet.

Thanks again!
 

JoshT

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It could also be the oil filter adapter on the side of the block. My transmission stayed wet looking for years. Always assumed it was a slow leak on the rear main and as long as it got no worse I planned to just ignore it and keep an eye on fluid levels. When I had the transmission rebuilt (1 or 2 years ago) I asked the shop to check the rear main seal, they did and nothing was wrong with it. Eventually tracked it down to the oil filter adapter, but once again as long as it didn't get worse I wasn't going to bother with it. Just rebuilt the motor so hopefully that leak is gone now.
 

snake

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If it is a slow leak it'll take awhile to drip again. Most of the time it has to puddle up just a bit inside the low spot in the bellhousing before it will come out of the bottom. If the fluid is red, it is the tranny, black is motor oil from the rear main or oil pan. If it is the tranny most likely a torque converter seal. They often leak really slow for a long time before they eventually get worse. My '02 did the exact same thing, a clear red drip hanging off of the bellhousing but never dripped in the garage. If it did I would have dropped the tranny and fixed it...
 

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