need an E40D expert - leak from sitting, manual lever shaft seal

[bantamcattle]

howdy, i hav a 1996 e-150 4.9L w/ an E40D,<br><br>i've been happily sitting in MOAB waiting for balljoints to arrive so i can pass the utah safety inspection and noticed that after a couple weeks my van has a giant puddle under the transmission (like the size of a small body). it wasn't dripping before but then all the sudden a big puddle. so i prayed to GOOGLE and found that something like a torque converter or something will release its fluid into the transmission pan after a certain period of time, thus increasing the fluid level there and possibly exposing weak seals higher up on the transmission. i crawled under to look as good as i could for the source and what i could find is there surely was fluid leaking at manual control lever as the bottom of the position sensor was clean and wet with fluid. the driverside of the transmission pan is quite wet also but i cannot determine if this all came from the manual lever shaft or if the pan is not torqued properly on that side. from all outward appearances the gasket looks fresh and healthy not dry and cracked. so that is where i am at with the diagnosis. i happily went on to figure out how to replace the manual lever shaft seal and at first thot that the worst of it would be removing the buried seal but then i found this page - http://www.thedieselstop.com/faq/9497faq/maint/stj/stj71a30.htm <br>And tho it is beautiful and clear description of the procedure, it scared me off a bit seeing that i'd hav to remove the pan, deal with some shaft pin and just more than i expected.<br>faced with this i thot i'd seek real and smarter people to see if my diagnosis seems correct and if sed people might think this to be an ok job for a novice such as myself or really i should be heading to a pro. i think mostly i'm hemming and hawing and would like to touch base with someone else's opinion who has looked at one of these before.<br><br>thankyou much for looking.<br><br>

 

[karl]

I would try a can of trans stop leak first (I've used Lucas), if that didn't cure the problem, then I'd find a pro with seal pullers, lift, a way to dispose of oil properly, and experience.....might watch closely if allowed,&nbsp; to learn....<br>

 

[bantamcattle]

I would try a can of trans stop leak first (I've used Lucas), if that didn't cure the problem, then I'd find a pro with seal pullers, lift, a way to dispose of oil properly, and experience.....might watch closely if allowed,&nbsp; to learn....<br>

<br><br>thankyou Karl for the feed back. of course i really like the additive idea because its the definition of easy. unfortunately glancing around the internet seems to paint a poor picture of the long term effects of additives in transmissions. maybe the conditioner type are better than the solvent type?<br><br>i think i'll ask around town to get some perspective of additives, difficulty of replacing the seal myself or options of paying someone to do it.<br>