So I had to park the ZJ for a week while I was away on business. When I returned, there was a huge amount of tranny fluid all over the ground! It was dark so i couldn't really make out where it came from, but the general area looked to be where the motor met the tranny.. Lately it has been leaking very small amounts of the tranny fluid; maybe a drop or so every few days.

My theory is that there is a bad/dried up seal somewhere on the tranny, and with it being parked for a week, it gave way and allowed the tranny to dump a bunch of fluid.. Is there a common seal on the tranny that goes bad or dries up? Just trying to find a starting point..

Any help, ideas, or input is much appreciated!! It's a '96 ZJ 4.0L btw.

 

Front pump seal is fairly common.

 

if its coming from the bell housing, it most likely a front pump seal or your torque converter. thats the only two places it can come from in that location.

 

I think you have two problems. The first being the front pump seal, and the second would be the anti-drainback check valve is letting the torque converter dump fluid back into the pan when the engine is not running.

 

Thanks for the input! Where exactly is the front pump seal, and what does it look like?

 

Front pump seal is the seal on the trans pump and seals the torque convertor hub to the pump. Just remove trans and torque convertor and its right there. Its a round seal about 3" diameter, looks just like an axle seal.

 

After wiping everything down and waiting for it to drip, the leak is actually coming from where the tranny meets the transfer case. The weird thing is, i checked the transmission dip stick and it was completely FULL. Where is the fluid coming from?? It almost looks as though there is a small chip on the transmission where it meets at the TC and fluid is running out like crazy. I will post a pic shortly.

 

if the tranny is at the same level it was (was it overfilled?) then id venture to say a tcase leak.

 

So after doing more research, you have to check a jeeps tranny fluid while it's running and in neutral. After doing this, the dip stick came up dry! Added a couple quarts of ATF fluid and got the fluid back up to proper operating level. Turns out the chip I was referring to is actually a weep hole. One of the input/output shaft seals are bad. Just going to replace both, as the t case will have to be pulled regardless.