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fluid in clutch housing?? help!

2057 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  dereklukosus
so about a month ago I took my 97z out becasue i just replace the rear main and pan gasket along with the rear tranny seal. i did a little driving and there was tranny fluid sprayed all underneath the car sprayed on the header collecters all the way up the back bumper. also it is still leaking oil from the dust seal by the bell housing. anyway i filled all my fluids again and i was out on a backroad a decided to do a dead stop take off. when shifting from 2nd to 3rd i did a quick shift not a power shift at all no grinds the shift was smooth as butter but when i was letting the clutch out (i do match rpms when shifting alsways) there was a puff of white smoke followed by a ridiculous chatter. i pulled over and no fluids were pouring out. i decided to limp it back home. it still shifted and drove but shifting was incredibly stiff. you had to force it to fall into gear especially reverse but there wasnt any grinding. also when you got above 30mph the chatter was crazy. you could almost feel the clicking. i just took it out again the other day with a guy to discuss the issue. illinois weather doesn't let you get out much in the winter. the shifting was easier along with the chatter not being as horrific but then again i only went around the block. also the clutch felt like it had slight slippage. so HERE is what i "think" happened. I think the front input bearing on the tranny along with the seal has been bad and during that run blew out spraying fluid all over my clutch and leaving that no good either. so maybe time to rebuild all the bearings and seals in the tranny? and while im at it do the synchros? and obviously a new clutch if thats soaked with fluid? any other input would be greatly appreciated!!! thanks guys

~~this was my first post to this issue....

earlier today i took it out again to try and do more "figuring". when the car was cold it ran like it had no problem at all... as it warmed up and got up to temp the shifts became much much harder. and also a howling noise a low rpm and a tall gear started to happen again as before. the more the car warmed up the worse it all got so i put it away and got it on jacks. the howling noise was coming from right under me not the clutch. and there is NO throw out bearing noises. no rattling or anything to indicate that its the throw out bearing. just tonight i put about a quart and a half back into the tranny it was pretty low. with that full i checked the rear end fluid just to be safe and rule out that to be the howling noise. that was fine. so with the tranny full i let the car run on the jacks in neutral up to temp to see if i could spot where the tranny was leaking fluid. nothing was dripping after it was up to temp for awhile. SO i must be losing fluid when im driving(I AM ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS ON HOW IM LOSING FLUID!!!) then for my next trick i pulled the slave off and as soon as i started to loosen one nut fluid started dripping out from it. IT WAS NOT clutch fluid. the resevoir was all up to level and no leaks were visible. the more i loosened the slave the more fluid started dripping out. it honestly has to be either motor oil (BECAUSE i recently did a rear main and its been leaking ever since and it dripped out the dust seal by the bell housing OR its the tranny fluid because like i said i could have a bad front seal....the Fluid was much too black to tell the difference between what it is. it definently is NOT condensation though. it had viscosity to it i wouldn't say it was more than 2-4 ounces. the clutch itself doesnt looked covered in the fluid from what i could see through the hole but the slave spacer is packed with it and the fork is also. it looks like the bottom of the bell housing had the stuff in it too at one point.tomoroow if the weather allows me i will take it out again and see if adding fluid helped the hard shifts and howling noise at running temp. IM so frustrated with this problem and keep hitting dead ends please HELP!!!:craz28:
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When you changed the rear seal did you clean up the crank and check to make sure it was not groved from the old seal? Did you use RTV black on it?

the black fuid is most likely oil i had a similar problem but i was not dropping tranny fluid like you are, could be possible the front seal on the trans is shot and just spitting out fluid up there, coming into contact with the clutch and burning up. Pics of the fluid may be of some help here.
Transmission fluid will have a noticeable stench to it from the friction additives. What kind of transmission fluid are you using? How high are you filling the transmission with fluid? With the slave cylinder spacer removed, look on the transmission adapter plate and check for any fresh leaks.
im 99 percent sure its motor oil now inside it. no fluid is splashed up on the clutch itself atleast from what i can see... wouldnt that just be the rear main? someone told me it could be the oil filter adapter or the rear intake leaking but how the hell would the oil end up inside the bellhousing if it was either of those... but the guy just insisted he knew that could be it:poke:i still believe its the RMS..... gonna have to drop it all again to find out i guess huh??
Well the intake leak is known to be mistaken for a RMS. Since the bell housing isn't sealed against the block it could leak down into it. You could feel behind the intake where it meets the block under the EGR pipe to feel for oil that would indicate the intake leak.

But really there's no use guessing at this point. If it isn't apparent where it's coming from you'll need to pull the tranny and take a look.
also believe the howling is my rear end now. i think that took a shit when i did that take-off. everything else seems back to normal. i made another post in the rear-end section basically asking what will bolt back directly in place of it. ive had new shims and bearings put in and still having problems. time for a new one:craz28:
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