If the bushing fails it can wear on the torque converter and cause a leak. But until the trans is out you won't know. The bushing is in farther than the seal and the torque converter rides on it as it engages the pump

Yea that is what this guy said. He wanted to replace the torque converter, seal and bushing. But he was leaning toward a rebuild or at least pulling the pump and valve body and sliding the internals out to inspect the clutches. Is this seal THAT big of a repair that the transmission has to be almost completely disassembled to replace that seal?! He showed me on a Ford tranny where the seal is. What are the steps to get that seal replaced and does it involve a near full disassembly?

The front seal is pull trans. Remove torque converter. Pry off seal. Tap new one in place. Reverse removal. The bushing is pretty deep in and requires removing the pump and disassembling it. If you go that far its only 10 minutes of teardown to inspect the rest of the guts.

So let me get this straight: If it is just the seal that is leaking, then it is just the seal that needs replacing. If the bushing is responsible for the leak, then the pump has to be pulled and taken apart to replace the bushing. The guts don't actually need to be pulled to replace the seal or bushing. Does this sound about right?

Correct. But with the pump out taking it the rest of the way apart to inspect everything makes sense because at that point you can simply reach in and pull everything but the output shaft and bearings out. To take the pump off ya have to pull the pan and filter. Valve body etc. then unbolt it from the housing and pull it out. Once all that's done you can simply slip the bands out reach in the front and pull all the years and clutch packs out.

Edit: I have a 4l60e at my shop torn down. Try to get some pics o it for you after I get my blazer put back together in the next few days so you can visually see what I mean.

Thanks. I am going to hope that the bushing is fine then and the seal failure is just because of the Lucas because I really would honestly hate to have to go through all that because of a minor leak. Up here in NY, repairs are expensive and very few shops are honest enough for me to trust them. In fact, one of them that I like is a chain based in Wilkes-Barre.

EDIT: Do they make a Redi-Sleeve for the torque converter so I don't have to have it replaced if the hub is scored so the seal rides properly? Or would that be a stupid idea in case a crack forms and the hub splits in half?

Thanks in advance for the photos.

It is too bad I don't live in Pennsylvania. I was thinking about it for after I am out of college. I have been in the Northeast part of it there a few times on Scout-related trips and not only is it a nice place, but the people are alot nicer and more trustworthy than people from my own state. Plus I notice other major differences like the number of police around. I drive on I-84, I-81 and I-380 for many miles on a few trips and I see exactly zero state troopers and no sneaky radar attacks. But once I cross back into NY, the first one I see is radaring me with KA 34.7 GHz and my detector picks it up before I even cross the state line. Then I see them once every few miles as usual. Also the gas prices and taxes are alot lower in PA. Maybe Albany should learn from what Harrisburg is doing right and maybe we wouldn't have all these problems in NY.

How big is the leak?
 

How many quarts of ATF are you adding a month to stay in the safe range?

Up until a week ago, zero. This trans was holding fluid with no problem before I discovered this seal. I added a third of a quart after I noticed the leak because I noticed the fluid was between the cold and hot ranges, but I assume that was because the trans wasn't hot. NEVER has it been low (or should I say low enough to cause a problem or below the cold range). Trans mechanic says the fluid is "right on the money".

2 mechanics so far confirmed the seal and a bad wheel bearing, so both are getting fixed soon. The wheel bearing is warranted as far as I know, so that should be simple.

PA isn't all it's cracked up to be, TRUST ME, Sure certain things are nicer than NY, but then again some things are the same and you just havent noticed. The difference between NY and PA is NY people will be assholes to your face, PA they'll be nice and pleasant to you to your face while stabbing you in the back and robbing you blind. Cops in PA????? Forget about it, they're the most corrupt force EVER, they will throw you in jail just for the sake of making money for the state, the entire court system here is so corrupt my own mother gave up elected office because she couldn't handle how far they would go.

My front wheel bears roared a tad when I got it at 102K miles and they were getting hot when I changed them out at 160K.

Old vehicles and small oil leaks are normal. I learned if I spent good $$$ to stop all drips then got in a wreck that the insurance company would call a total loss (does not take much with older stuff) that I got paid the same $$$ where it was all dry or was a leaker.

Based on my Blazer experience you will be putting in another transmission long before your small leak becomes a functional concern. All remanufactured transmissions come with new seals. :)