Leaking ATF after SYE install

[hear]

Of course. I’m not voting for any location, just making a suggestion on where to look. Fluid level check is always the first thing you do. Guess we should spell everything out. OP seems like he doesn’t know where to look, and fluid on the tranny does not mean it is leaking from the tranny, though it may be.

I guess yes, I don't know where to look. I've had my eyes on everything I can get them on, and my hands everywhere else and the only ATF I could see [relative to early on in this thread] was at the pan. I've since changed the pan & gasket and all that looks much cleaner now but there is ATF on the rear lip of the pan. I haven't dropped the skid yet but I got my hand up there as best I could but didn't find any leak sources.

I just went to the garage to check again. No drips on the floor, but there is a little red on the inside lip of the pan. I'm 95% sure I wiped that down last night. So its either seeping or I'm a lousy janitor. Or both. I mean, the simplest answer is the pan is slightly bent. Maybe I go back and give it another 5 ft-lbs on the back bolts, dry it off, top it off, and see what happens.

 

[JMT]

I guess yes, I don't know where to look. I've had my eyes on everything I can get them on, and my hands everywhere else and the only ATF I could see [relative to early on in this thread] was at the pan. I've since changed the pan & gasket and all that looks much cleaner now but there is ATF on the rear lip of the pan. I haven't dropped the skid yet but I got my hand up there as best I could but didn't find any leak sources.

I just went to the garage to check again. No drips on the floor, but there is a little red on the inside lip of the pan. I'm 95% sure I wiped that down last night. So its either seeping or I'm a lousy janitor. Or both. I mean, the simplest answer is the pan is slightly bent. Maybe I go back and give it another 5 ft-lbs on the back bolts, dry it off, top it off, and see what happens.

Pics might help, they might not, hard to say. Usually my leaks have been from the TCase, and usually where the housings meet, but I've also had it at the front driveshaft outer seal which needed to be replaced. That was the time I had ATF all over the driver's side of the transmission. It's just hard to say, usually you have to clean the whole thing like you did, and look for a place it's running down the TCase or transmission.

 

[SoCalTJ]

Take a look at the range selector shaft seal on the TC. I have a similar leak to yours that I have not figured out yet. I think it may be this selector shaft seal, not sure yet.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ransfer-case-range-selector-shaft-seal.31021/

 

[hear]

Take a look at the range selector shaft seal on the TC. I have a similar leak to yours that I have not figured out yet. I think it may be this selector shaft seal, not sure yet.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ransfer-case-range-selector-shaft-seal.31021/

I don't think it's that simply because the TC doesn't appear to have lost any fluid, and there was no sign of atf in that area. But it's high on the list of places to check for sure. We really had to fight with it to get the linkage back on during re-assembly.

 

[Wtrask]

Make sure it’s not overfilled. Tho my short shaft kit leaks also and it’s out of the parts I didn’t assemble which is lame. Someday I’ll pull it apart and fix it.

 

[hear]

Drove the thing a lot yesterday, got a big old puddle of ATF under it this morning, which can only mean there's even more in the skid again. Planning to do the transmission output seal today. The t-case input seal looks a lot more involved, although I can't find a good write-up/video of anyone doing it. I'll thoroughly investigate the shifter linkage area as well, and really everywhere, although there really isn't any evidence of the t-case being the source of the leak given that the fluid level is still right at the top of the fill hole.

Also, I have a vague recollection of there being a gasket between the transmission & transfer case. Did I dream that up or does it exist?

A little googling turned up this for an NP231...I know I didn't use any gaskets in re-assembling the case after the SYE, so that leaves very few places for a gasket to go. Rock Auto has a similar image in their 231 rebuild kit, but interestingly does not appear (in any obvious way) available for individual purchase.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8920932&cc=1185285&pt=16049&jsn=1025

 

[hear]

More information. T-case is still 100% full, and no evidence of any atf on it. Skid plate is down and it’s daylight so I can see tons.

the pan is definitely leaking at the gasket, so that’s prt of the issue.
But that trans output seal is high on my radar. I was expecting a notch on the very bottom to allow for a visual indicator that the seal is bad, but this thing is flush as flush can be, and zero evidence of a leak here.

 

[hear]

Just in case you weren’t already tired of this saga, we believe we narrowed the cause down to one corner of the trans pan. It’s very near the selector fitting/seal/whatever, but there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of ATF above the pan area. Lube Locker customer support and I are going to have words on Monday.

so we dropped the pan again and tried gray Right Stuff. It leaked like a sieve. After pulling the pan again it seems like the stuff hadn’t fully cured yet, although we waited longer than the prescribed times for hand tight/ooze, torque, and fill.

then we dropped the pan again and used just the rubber gasket (no RTV) that came with my filter. Torqued to 13 ft-lbs, and it seems to be holding serve with 4 quarts. That’s all I had left, and every place that sells atf is closed now.

Looks like another murder scene under the jeep, but we have some fresh paper down to spit any drops overnight.

Keep your fingers crossed

 

[hear]

Aaaaaand it leaked overnight. Kill me.

 

[csaxj3]

I'm here to see where this goes!

Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it.

 

[hear]

Take nothing for granted in this world. Cleaned everything off last night, put 4 quarts in, and went to bed. Woke up to this:

looking underneath, I see this which “obviously” means the gasket isn’t sealing. But maybe you already know where this is going. This particular leak looks exactly like it did when I had the lube locker on, so maybe the lube locker wasn’t to blame after all.

looking more closely now that daylight is on my side, and I see that indeed the selector switch is leaking. Somebody here suggested that earlier in this thread, and many other threads on related topics point to selector seal leaks LOOKING like leaks from the back of the pan.

new seal will be here at 2pm. I ordered 2 so when I bend up the first one I’ll already have a backup. Sometimes you gotta think with your dipstick.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Well, it was certainly a pain for you getting to this point, but hopefully the selector seal is it.

 

[hear]

Couldn't wait for 2pm, Napa had it on hand. I immediately put it in the freezer, did some stuff around the house and then got to work. I'll see about writing up a proper procedure with pics but it was pretty easy even w/o the seal removal tool, which is $10 for the GM style from any parts store but $60 for the Chrysler style only found on Amazon. I did find one for $2,000 on Newegg.

I tore into the seal with a couple different picks and a small flat head screwdriver and it came up "relatively easily." I didn't have to remove the driveshaft or disconnect the trans cooler lines as I saw suggested some places.

To drive the seal home, I put a little red grease on the rubber lip (maybe should've put some on the outer edge as well?) and used Duralast 1/2" drive 21mm socket which was the right outer dimension for the seal, tall enough for the selector shaft body allowing for the upper part of the shaft to go into the upper portion of the socket, and just barely tall enough to not stick through the socket.

There was more room than I expected in the trans tunnel, but still not very much. I used my 4 lb sledge, because p=mv and there was no room to generate any v, so I had to rely on m. It went in without much fuss, although It isn't in quite as square as I would have liked. I'm not going to cry if it leaks up there again, because I know I didn't do a world class job, and it isn't much effort to do it again.

Ran the engine for a while, ran the gears, checked the level twice, so far it has remained dry. I'm going to leave it alone for a few hours and then take another look, preparing to be disappointed. I'm also not fully convinced the gasket isn't weeping a little bit on the back drivers corner, but I guess we'll see on that too.

Thanks for sticking with me, y'all.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Couldn't wait for 2pm, Napa had it on hand. I immediately put it in the freezer, did some stuff around the house and then got to work. I'll see about writing up a proper procedure with pics but it was pretty easy even w/o the seal removal tool, which is $10 for the GM style from any parts store but $60 for the Chrysler style only found on Amazon. I did find one for $2,000 on Newegg.

I tore into the seal with a couple different picks and a small flat head screwdriver and it came up "relatively easily." I didn't have to remove the driveshaft or disconnect the trans cooler lines as I saw suggested some places.

To drive the seal home, I put a little red grease on the rubber lip (maybe should've put some on the outer edge as well?) and used Duralast 1/2" drive 21mm socket which was the right outer dimension for the seal, tall enough for the selector shaft body allowing for the upper part of the shaft to go into the upper portion of the socket, and just barely tall enough to not stick through the socket.

There was more room than I expected in the trans tunnel, but still not very much. I used my 4 lb sledge, because p=mv and there was no room to generate any v, so I had to rely on m. It went in without much fuss, although It isn't in quite as square as I would have liked. I'm not going to cry if it leaks up there again, because I know I didn't do a world class job, and it isn't much effort to do it again.

Ran the engine for a while, ran the gears, checked the level twice, so far it has remained dry. I'm going to leave it alone for a few hours and then take another look, preparing to be disappointed. I'm also not fully convinced the gasket isn't weeping a little bit on the back drivers corner, but I guess we'll see on that too.

Thanks for sticking with me, y'all.

Fingers crossed….