Got a leak somewhere, need a little help

[Airmaster]

Hey guys, since I am not positive on whether this is my engine or my transmission I decided to post it here.

First of all, I installed a hurst shifter about two months ago. It kept leaking through the mating surfaces, so I rtv'ed it. Then tranny fluid started flowing up the center of the stickshift. After a week of doing this and me freaking out thinking I had to swap this out ASAP it stopped doing it. I thought maybe the gasket that Hurst supplies finally started venting or something....

Well, I guess it wasn't, earlier this week I noticed the smell of burning oil and/or atf. The fluid was dripping from the bellhousing area onto my exhaust and smoking away. I could not pinpoint what it was (oil vs atf), my educated guess led me to believe it was atf, it smelled like atf but it kinda looked like oil, it wasn't red tinted... (maybe just because it was older fluid and it lost its red, but still, I'm left confused).

Today I decided to swap back to the stock shifter because this Hurst thing is obviously not venting the pressure. I also replaced the tranny fluid. Mercon like the manual calls for.

After cleaning up the bellhousing and transmission and what not, I decide to drive it to school and back home (A good 30 to 45 minute drive one way). As soon as I get home from the drive I smell the burning stuff again. ITS STILL LEAKING. I am really hoping I did not blow a seal... Again I think it is ATF but I am not sure because the oil pan is covered in what looks to be a leak too.

I am beyond confused/worried/pissed. Its an 06 and I'd hate to have to go into the engine and replace shit now...

Any help and/or suggestions is completely welcomed. What do you guys think it is. Could it just be residual fluid that I see?

I hope it's okay...

 

[Airmaster]

Can anyone shed some light? :/

 

[bigrockets]

clean all of the oil off of the engine and transmission with a good degreaser. and the garden hose. Put some cardboard sheets under the truck and run the truck in the driveway. Hopefully you will catch some drips on the cardboard. Look up from the drips and follow the oil trail. ATF is a different color than motor oil and smells differently. If you can't catch it running in the driveway run it down the block and back and park over your cardboard again. Look at every seal point to see if you can spot the leak. You're the second person on the forum who has leaks after installing the hurst shifter. You shouldn't be speed shifting the Ranger anyway as its the best way to kill the transmission. You can rebuild the stock shifter and it will feel like new again. You don't notice it getting sloppy because it happens over time. Personally I would put the hurst shifter on ebay and rebuild the stock item with a new inner seal boot as this is where they usually leak.

 

[Airmaster]

Well, I put the stock shifter back in and swapped the tranny fluid. The transmission is fine, it isn't leaking oil and is not building pressure any more.

I have now noticed it is indeed ENGINE OIL. I checked my dipstick to notice that the oil was OVER the max level line. Stupid me, I kept driving it thinking it was fine (plus I had nowhere to drop the oil). It ended up leaking so much so to the point the oil level is now just a bit under the max level line, I checked this after I let the truck sit overnight so I could get a good reading.

Since it is now at the right fluid level I will continue to check it each day to find out if it is still leaking.

I THINK the overfilled oil has caused this. I have always filled it up with 5 full quarts when the truck specifically calls for 4.5, I simply never noticed.

The question will still remain on whether a seal is blown or if the oil has simply worked its way out without damaging the seal.

If anyone has any thoughts on whether I have blown an oil seal I'm all ears.

It is good to know that I was never losing tranny fluid to begin with, but I may just return the hurst anyway, it definitely did not vent properly and to get it to vent properly will probably take more work than is worth it. I have 90 day warranty on the thing from summit. I'll buy the FX4 shifter just for the looks if I decide I need it.

 

[racsan]

overfilling by 1/2 a qt shouldnt hurt anything, ive done stuff like that for years and not had a problem. id say that if youve developed a seal leak, you will still have a seal leak.

 

[Airmaster]

Yeah, my boss (who's been a car mechanic for a good part of his life) told me it is leaking far too much to be a PCV problem or the like. It's gotta be a seal...

So, here's my next set of questions. How should I go about changing the rear main seal. Tranny removal or Engine removal, or both???

And since I will be going into the engine what else should I be replacing while I am down there. My boss mentioned the throw out bearing, as well as a new clutch plate, etc

Maybe I'll start a new thread in the 3.0 section since I know what I got now...