Sorry, this is the only site i trust.
Had replaced tranny recently, everything's okay
except ATF leaks when vehicle is in an incline -
that is when parked with the nose up (in the driveway.)
Leak is coming down from the drive shaft.
Thanks.

__________________
joel

Prayers bring forth enlightenment.

Hi Joel,
Maybe you are actually on a good site for this question, as I installed an Astrovan engine and transmission in my '82 300D/4.3L V6 a couple years ago. All transmissions are about the same in that they have a seal that goes around the driveshaft, like a ring, and is installed into the tailshaft housing in the transmission. This seal is a little hard to install, but can usually be replaced by just dropping the driveshaft, prying the old seal out with a suitable tool, and putting the new one in. I usually use some gasket cement on the OD of the new seal, where it contacts the tailshaft housing, and I always fill the "gap" in the seal, where it contacts the driveshaft housing, with grease. I usually turn a wooden block on the lathe so it mates up with the rear side of the seal, and so it has a hole for the tailshaft, and a suitable area to hammer on. Sometimes a person can find a real big socket that can be used to seat the seal, or a piece of cast iron pipe - whatever works. Just be careful not to bend the new seal! The reason these seals go bad is usually that the rubber gets hard due to heat and aging. A word of caution - sometimes premature failure of the rear seal can mean a balance problem with the driveshaft has caused slop to develop in the bearing/bushing that the driveshaft is supposed to be centered in.
Good luck on the repair!

Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3L V6
'88 Astrovan
'94 Taurus (Wife's F.O.R.D.)
'80 VW Cabriolet Convertible
'84 GMC S15
'77 Jag XJ6L
'77 280Z
'65 Clark Cortez - Toronado FWD conversion

Richard, thanks for your insight. A 300 diesel with
a 4.3L engine, wow that's a blast! Cheers!

__________________
joel

Prayers bring forth enlightenment.

Joel,

My 92 Astro leaks around the rear seal when on an incline also ( am on my orginial transmission). I believe that this is due to the seal rubber getting old but I haven't changed mine yet because the trans fluid level is still ok.

I also think that this can be due to the trans fluid level being a bit too high which would cause the excess to leak out of the rear seal when on an incline. Double check your trans fluid level - if you see the level going down then replaceing the rear seal would be cheap insurance.

If you drop the driveshaft, reference mark prior to disassembley since it was factory system balanced.

Noise or vibration at high speed are indications of a balance problem.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

Hi Ray,

You and Richard are right on the money. My indy
guy replaced the rear seal at the drive shaft which i am
sure will stop the leak. As for the vibration, I will
certainly keep an eye at it. Thanks.

__________________
joel

Prayers bring forth enlightenment.