hi all
I am thinking of buying a 95 4 door 4x4 blazer (for $700) that has a bad front seal on the transmission
and i am wondering if i should buy it and get it fixed (how much will it cost to fix it) or just leave it

 

Well,thing is..you gotta pull the trans out the truck. Replacing the seal only takes maybe 15 minutes,but it takes 3-4 hours to do the trans removal/reinstall. Around here that would go for about $350-$400 if done in that time.You will have about 1,000-1200.00 in the truck when done. Its worth it if the truck runs good,somewhat low miles,and its clean.

 

okay would it be good to just see if my grandpa can help me pull the trans and just take it somewhere and then we put it back in

 

thats what i do. that seal can be a pita to put in without a "cup" tool. you gotta tap the metal ring in and if you dont tap it the right way it wont go in fully seated.

 

about how much would it cost me if i took the transmission out my self
and take the transmission to get the seal fixed by a pro
and then put the transmission back in my self

 

Just from exp if the seals gone probably the bearing is to . I changed mine and put it all back together and it still leaked . So I took it to work with me and my boss helped me get the bearing fixed and we ended up just rebuilding the whole transmission It only took like 2 hours , good luck .

 

Ehh,bearings could be gone,but either way it needs to be pulled and fixed. How much will it cost for you to take it out? dunno how much time and patience do you have? a "pro" in a decent shop will charge you however long it takes to do it. if they charge $80 a hour and it takes 30 min,then there is $40 bucks. Thats the way it is around here at least.

 

x2 on the bushing possibly being out. Either that or you have a problem causing pressure to build up behind the seal. I suppose it depends on how big the leak is. You shouldn't need to have a pro do the seal for you. If you are capable of pulling the transmission you can definately do the seal.

Once you get the transmission out(drain it first), stand it on end with the output shaft down. If it's a 4x4, it will stand on the case adaptor and you don't have to worry about anything besides fuild running out. Just use a screwdriver to pop the retaining ring off, then work the seal out with a putty knife to get it started and then something to finish working it out. Be sure to go around it to bring it out evenly the whole way around. I'm sure your grandpa has removed a seal on something before.
Check the bushing in the pump once you get the seal removed. It should be aluminum in color vs. copper like all the other bushings are. If the bushing looks/feels rough it is bad. I believe it will look marred and have discoloration. From there you would probably want to take it to someone unless you want to do some learning.
Otherwise you just replace the seal and carefully tap it in with a hammer. Use light taps to get the seal started and work it in a circular pattern. Once again if your grandpa has done a seal in anything this way before it should be no problem. Just don't hit anything very hard with the hammer because it is all aluminum and you don't want to cause any more problems than you already have.

If that's too much work take it in but it should take less than :30 to do all that once the transmission is out.

 

Front pump seals don't just start to leak unless they get hard or the bushing is wore out. The later is about 90% of the problem. Take it from an old, tired, retired mechanic.