Oil Leak.

[Diyu]

I went to look at a car I was thinking about buying. The owner had an inspection report which mentioned 'oil leak at transmission'.

I got underneath and could see oil gathered at the join between the block and bell-housing.

It was a bit hard to see whether it was coming from inside (Rear Main Seal?) or dripping down from somewhere else.

The *oil* was an orange/amber colour. Could it possibly be transmission oil? After checking the engine oil, it had obviously been changed recently as it wasn't too dark.

(The engine is a 3SGE in a Toyota Caldina with about 153k miles on it.)

[MR2Jedi]

Well, you need to determine whether its tranny oil or engine oil.
If it's engine oil, more than likely the rear crankshaft seal.
If it's tranny oil, then most likely the front shaft seal.

[Diyu]

Thanks for the reply.

I did suspect the input shaft as a possible source due to where the leak is, but like you said, I need to determine what the fluid is first.

I'd post the picture, but I have nowehere to upload to.

To change the rear main in one of these engines, do you have to move the crank or can you get the seal in/out if you just remove the flywheel?

[MR2Jedi]

Originally Posted by Diyu

Thanks for the reply.

I did suspect the input shaft as a possible source due to where the leak is, but like you said, I need to determine what the fluid is first.

I'd post the picture, but I have nowehere to upload to.

To change the rear main in one of these engines, do you have to move the crank or can you get the seal in/out if you just remove the flywheel?

Yes. Seal is easy to change. It's just time consuming pulling tranny , clutch and flywheel.

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