saginaw 3-spd transmission leak

[jwmdnm]

Just pulled out my 42 year old saginaw 3-spd tranny (for the second time) after an engine swap from the original 250 six cylinder to a GM crate motor in my '67 stepside shortie. To resolve the transmission leak, I replaced the front tranny bearing and seal in the yoke but I think the leak is worse now than before the my repair. The leak is definitely inside the bell housing and leaking through the flywheel dust cover.

Please Help!

What have I missed? What would you recommend I do other than: a) take the transmission to a professional; b) take the old tranny to the metal recycle center; or c) recycle plus get a muncie 4-spd or 5-spd tranny from an S-10???

Many thanks for any and all info or insights you have to offer.

[RANDY COX]

Not sure what to tell ya,Did you Install the pilot bearing on the flywheel,If not then maybe it's letting the shaft wobble,thus not sealing good.I'm sure you replaced the gasket on front cover of trans.If you find out let us know.

[oldiron]

I'm going to move this over to the pickup forum for you where you might get a better response.
Dennis
aka oldiron
forum staff

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by jwmdnm

......To resolve the transmission leak, I replaced the front tranny bearing and seal in the yoke but I think the leak is worse now than before the my repair. The leak is definitely inside the bell housing and leaking through the flywheel dust cover...

Not to say your haven't checked this but need to make sure. Does the leak look like lube from the transmission and not oil from the rear main engine seal?

Personally, I've never had a transmisson leak from the front seal (clutch gear housing). Not saying it can't happen but most of the leaks I've seen an tranny's are the rear seal where the yoke goes in from the drive shaft.

If it is the front that's leaking, it could be something out of alignment that's not letting the seal sit properly or the bushing in the housing. I would take it to a trans shop that specializes in manual transmissions. We have one here in my area and the guy told me that most repair on those run less than $150.

fyi: I have a Saginaw and my rear extension bushing leaks a little. He said if I brought it in, he'd do it for around $50. It takes a special tool to remove
and install. In your case, if it's the housing bushing, it probably would be fairly cheap.

[murdoc]

i personally like the three speeds and would keep it. Of course if it has already been converted to the floor and is being used as a top loader transmission, then you might as well get a good top loader 5 speed. your leak is coming from your front transmission seal, its behind the 4 bolt flange that goes over the input shaft. mine had the same problem, nothing serious

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by murdoc

i personally like the three speeds and would keep it. Of course if it has already been converted to the floor and is being used as a top loader transmission, then you might as well get a good top loader 5 speed. your leak is coming from your front transmission seal, its behind the 4 bolt flange that goes over the input shaft. mine had the same problem, nothing serious

He said he already replaced the seal. I'm assuming if he has done that, then something else is causing the leak. I'm looking at a saginaw breakdown diagram right now and there is an oil seal on the clutch gear bearing retainer (housing) that may be the problem.

Edit: I reread the posts and I guess we're just repeating the same thing re: the seal. On the breakdown, there's an oil seal, a gasket, and on some transmissions a "clutch gear bearing retainer seal." Sorry for the screwup.

[dwcsr]

As said it is rare that these leak from the front shaft without something broken or a very worn.
One other possiblity is that during your repair you used silicone on the front cover in place of a gasket and it pluged up the front bearing drain or the collar is not lined up with the bearing drain so the lube now has to run out the throw-out bearing collar. Is the trans actually getting low on oil?

[jwmdnm]

You guys are awesome. Thanks so much for all the response.

Outa fear of soaking the clutch disk, I have not run it enough to notice if the total quantity of oil in the tranny is low.

I did use both sealant and a paper gasket on the front 4-bolt plate (shaft yoke). I was very careful to line everything up but suppose I could have blocked the front bearing drainage (but don't think so).

Its been converted to floor shift so its tempting to go with a different tranny (4or 5-spd) although I really like the old 3-speed because its what I grew up with.

I guess I have no choice but to pull it back out (that's the bad news). The good news is that I'm getting good at it.

Jim
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