Leaking Front Seal In T-14

Anyone have any good ideas for stopping a front seal leak in my T-14 short of pulling and replacing? Trans is almost new but has dried out from sittin for several years.

Fltfndr

 

There's a seal in the bearing retainer, and a gasket between the retainer and the case. All the seals I've seen for this are modern neoprene seals, and it seems unlikely that the seal has dried out from sitting. The gasket is not exposed to the air, since it's trapped between the case and retainer, so it also seems unlikely to have failed from sitting. If the front main bearing is failing, the extra movement in the input shaft could make the seal leak. None of this stuff is accessible without pulling the transmission.

If the seal were actually dried out, there are additives that can be put in the oil to soften the seal. These are usually targeted at automatic transmissions, where the hydraulics are based on pistons with rubber seals. Maybe they help because the seals are "dried out" but I think it's more likely they simply make the worn-out seals swell and fix up the hydraulic seal, at least for a little while. I would not hold out much hope for this working for you.

Are you sure it's gear oil, and not engine oil? They smell distinctly different. A leaking engine rear main seal seems a much more likely source of a leak in that area ... or even a valve cover leak, running down the back of the engine. The rear main is a rope seal, and it seems more likely that could harden and fail from just sitting. Both the rear main and the valve cover gaskets can be replaced without pulling the engine or transmission.