Hello folks, My name is Neil from the north coast of NSW.
My sons 4sp auto is leaking around the bell housing, it seems to be any way. Car stopped after some dubious driving ( no dad I wasn't doing burnouts ha ha).
Filled up with trans oil and away it went but has this leak that more than a drip.
I have since dropped the Trans, ordered new seals ect, but seal behind the torque converter seems good. Closer inspection looked like little cracks inside the housing so, I split the bell housing off to look further, some cracks seem to be present inside.
Question, is this possible or should i ask could it happen after box got hot running out of oil.
I have just ordered another 4sp trans from our wrecker, they have one they think and are asking $440.00 including Torque converter and 3 months warranty.
I'm happy with that and I will pick up later in the week but am interested to hear advise on the old tranny which still drives good apart from the oil leak.


Thanks in advance Neil

Any signs of the torque converter slinging oil out?

Well that has been suggested, I cleaned the oil from around it then sat it on a drum as its still full of oil, so far no oil has worked its way through. I guess if its leaking it will when hot and running and not when cold and stopped.

edit, it had oil splashing up under the engine before I washed it down, just a few KM testing and fresh oil was splatting about again.
I have some pics, tried loading a couple last night, haven't worked that part out yet, each forum has a different way.

You'll need to upload pics externally (eg. TinyPic) and post their [IMG] link here. The forum doesn't host images.

Never heard of a casing cracking. I would say is the seal and is just worn. There are always marking in the castings on these so that part is quite normal

Thanks for answering my questions, we picked up another complete trans from the wreckers for the advised price of $440.00. Apart from the cut wires and hoses instead of pulling the plugs ect it looks ok. It has the Torque converter, no obvious oil leaks, so I will replace the 3 seals and reinstall.
Hopefully all will be good.

Job done, pretty much all day Sunday, I just took my time and used a big floor jack to lift it into position. I read in another thread about a chap who had all sorts of trouble doing what I just done.
I'm not an expert or a trained mechanic but most of the job was strait forward after looking and working it out as I went. I do have good tools as i'm self employed and work on my own machines on the job.
The one mistake I made was after removing everything attached to the transmission, I removed all the bolts separating trans / engine including the starter motor. Once I parted the 2 it only wanted to move 1/4 inch before going tight, I rang a mechanic mate who told me about the 4 bolts linking the torque converter to crank shaft. I removed the inspection plate and turned the engine with a screwdriver undoing the 4 little bolts as I went, after that it was easy and parted good and then slowly let it come down moving it past anything that would catch the box .

I filled her up dissarvy and started up the engine, everything seemed ok, it idled, moved forward and backwards ok, no noises or oil running out. Went to test it on the road and it stalled at idle, started easy but now won't idle. Was dark by this so I left it till tomorrow. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Just drive it and it will relearn itself to idle. Idle issue usually happens when the battery is disconnected.

Just drive it and it will relearn itself to idle. Idle issue usually happens when the battery is disconnected.

I have done maybe 1 hour testing now with it, it still wants to stop at idle, slowly getting better. Its fine when cold of coarse. It drives ok too, all in all I am pretty happy with the result.

Quick up date and question.

1st of all, my son drove it home today (150km) from work, I told him to watch and listen , he rang 1/2 way home on the expressway and said its going great but noticed its cruising at a neat 2000 rpm at 100km. He said before it was running at 2400 at 100km, I said better economy, but have wondered if the final ratios change from model to model.
He's happy as a pig in mud anyway, that old white boat is driving again.

Oh forgot, its not throwing any codes either....

Maybe the old torque converter clutch or clutch control was buggered? I'm pretty sure these boxes include a locking TC that locks up when cruising, I'm not sure what speeds and conditions it locks in and out at. If it wasn't locking up it might account for the extra 400rpm at 100kph from the old box. Just a guess, I know more about brain surgery than auto boxes and I don't know anything about brain surgery!

Ratios for a F4A51 Trans in 6G72 3.0L & 6G74 3.5L motors would be different. AFAIK the 6G72 was still kicking around in the early TJ base models. 2000RPM is about where my 6G74 TW sits .

Just drive it and it will relearn itself to idle. Idle issue usually happens when the battery is disconnected.

You were correct, this old girl has sorted itself out and idles good again, I was sure something wasn't quiet right.
Its been on the road now for a bit and is driving very well, I gave it a run up over some slow windy hilly roads near our farm and I was impressed it run that well.

I'm not about to swap it for my 3 year old Triton 2.5 but its still a good old bus for my young blokes 1st car just the same

Again thanks for the simple advise.

Maybe the old torque converter clutch or clutch control was buggered? I'm pretty sure these boxes include a locking TC that locks up when cruising, I'm not sure what speeds and conditions it locks in and out at. If it wasn't locking up it might account for the extra 400rpm at 100kph from the old box. Just a guess, I know more about brain surgery than auto boxes and I don't know anything about brain surgery!

Yep, there is a lock-up at around 80Km/h when driven at a reasonable clip...earlier (around 65 to 70Km/h) if driven gently.

Note to OP: When I had to replace the battery in my car it took about four days for the ECU to relearn my driving patterns.