Hello, I believe I have a leak coming from the vent tube that is near the transmission dipstick tube. I am not 100% certain that the leak is coming from this location, however. The only time I seem to be able to make the leak happen is when the transmission is put under a pretty heavy load, and it has only happened to me twice. Both times, I was cruising on the freeway and needed to floor it to make a pass. After both of these instances, I started noticing smoke, and upon inspection tranny fluid was covering the exhaust crossover and burning off, causing the smoky condition. It was almost impossible to tell where the leak was coming from. However, when I popped the hood I noticed the vent tube was slightly wet with fluid. The leak does not happen if I baby it around. I have been cruising it through town for 3 days with no issue. The fluid is a light brown/red color and the dipstick does have a slight burned smell to it. I have no problems with performance. The gears all work great and I have noticed no signs of slipping. Does this sound like the transfer case seal issue or am I looking at the start of a major problem? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Not a transfer case issue. If it was over full it would do this but more than likely it is over heating. Is the SES light on? Probably the lock up not working properly and slipping and making transmission hot.

 

I made a 100 mile round trip drive today and made sure not to floor it. No leaks. I was told to cruise at 60mph to see if the tach showed any rpm changes which would indicate a torque converter problem. The tach reads steady. One further thing to note. I tried to shift the transfer case into 4hi and 4lo. The lights change appropriately on the dash but the transfer case does not shift. I read that the vacuum switch on the transfer case could be bad because of excess trans fluid and that this fluid could be getting into the vacuum lines. Does this sound like the issue or are you still suspecting a major transmission problem? Just seems weird since the transmission is performing as it should. Thanks again.

 

Take the drain plug off on your transfer case and see how much fluid comes out, if any comes out you have an internal leak (most likely the input shaft seal on the t-case)

 

I assume you mean the full plug on the transfer case? I assume this is on the back of the case. Anyone know what size wrench it takes?

 

Update: Pulled top plug from transfer case and every bit of a quart if not more of trans fluid came out on fairly flat ground. Does this sound like that pesky input shaft seal? And does someone have the part numbers for the seal, gasket, and vacuum switch for the transfer case if so?