Oily transmission pan

[westdiablo]

The underside of my Runner is clean (86k miles CA truck). After seeing pics of Midwest and Northeast Runners...almost embarrassingly clean. It's like new all over, except...the transmission pan is oily.

Nothing oily higher up or fore or aft. Just the pan. No drips.

Is that a gasket leak, or...?

Should I do something preventive?


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[thegipper]

Clean off the pan real good and keep a close eye on it so you can pin point where the leak is. On face value, it sounds like the pan itself is leaking. From the factory they used RTV to seal it to the tranny. If its been removed before, it could have a cork/rubber gasket that may be leaking also.

You could also make sure all of the bolts are torqued to spec and see if that stops the leak first.

If it is the pan that's leaking, it's very easy to remove. I've been using a rubber gasket instead of RTV/FIPG for years now without any leaks.

 

[rightyouareken]

Is it dirty with transmission fluid or engine oil? Transmission fluid is red and has a distinct smell, while engine oil is...well engine oil

 

[westdiablo]

Is it dirty with transmission fluid or engine oil? Transmission fluid is red and has a distinct smell, while engine oil is...well engine oil

Hard to tell since it's so coated with dust and dirt.


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[rightyouareken]

Hard to tell since it's so coated with dust and dirt.

If I had to put money on the likely cause, I think a valve cover gasket leak is much more likely than a transmission pan gasket leak. Valve cover gasket leaks (and half moon leaks) are very common on these engines.

It can be hard to tell where oil is coming from since it gets blown all around and drips in strange ways sometimes. I'd wager that if you felt around the backside of both valve covers you'd find one of them is leaking. I say this as someone who's valve cover gasket is leaking and making the transmission pan and steering rack look oily

 

[westdiablo]

If I had to put money on the likely cause, I think a valve cover gasket leak is much more likely than a transmission pan gasket leak. Valve cover gasket leaks (and half moon leaks) are very common on these engines.

Good tip. I'll check that.

Our last Runner just puked oil from the valve cover gaskets. Oil was all over everything. Replaced those and never had another drop.


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