Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys I was recently driving my 98 GS300 down the I-45 freeway, on the phone as usual when i noticed a large plume of smoke coming from my car. I pulled off the highway immediatly and looked underneath and royal purple tannry fluid was everywhere. I somehow made it home the car was barly shifting and the rpms were 3-4k to get the car to move. I hope I didn't damage the tranny but I didn't want to pay for a tow if I didn't have to.

I have the car up on the jack stands and searching around underneath hoping to find an obvious problem but no such luck. Any ideas of what it is or what is going to be needed is much appreciated. I have a joe schmoe mechanic that isn't too bad and I also have a toyota dealership close by.

Also I have been pondering over a engine swap for a bit now as this one has about 190K on it. If the tranny has been damaged I might be leaning even more towards this scenario. I know its alot more money but the timing might be good.

Again any thoughts would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

You probably need to put some fluid back in to see where it is leaking from. It could be the tranny cooler at the bottom of the rad or the front seal. The leak should be fairly obvious. You might want to remove the engine inder cover and hose things down to see where the leak is.

StealthGS

iTrader: (2)

I would check the pan gasket first, Thats the easiest to spot. Second could possible be the seal between the engine and trans. I had a leak there as well, But since its obviously landing on the exhaust and burning off causing smoke its really hard to say!?? Also driving it with little to no fluid wasnt the best thing to do, Unless you got tons of money or just dont care. Even a few miles on low to no trans fluid could destroy a tranny!!

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input fellas. Believe me I know it wasn't good to drive on it with the way it was. I just felt like I wasn't too far from safety to get it to my garage. Like I stated before, if I did destroy the tranny then getting new motor & tranny might be in order. I don't have tons of money but I do OK. I have been considering the supra 2jz-gte swap for a little while know I just had no real good reason to do it. Now I may.

I know a brand new tranny would cost far less but this car is not my daily driver and I am either going to sell it with the same stock engine or keep it and boost it.

I am going to fill up the tanny fluid and see if I can pinpiont the leak.

If in fact I deceide to go with the supra motor does anyone know or recommend a place to get all that I need for the swap. Motor,ecu,tranny,wireharness, basically all you need to drop it in?

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

You probably got a rip/tear in one of the transmission cooler lines. It's a quick $5 fix if its just the hose, but it's a lot more fun if it's the endtank on the radiator . As for the swap, it's going to run you around $5-7k range with labor installed into your car depending on where you take it and how cheap you get then motor for. That price is for a stock GTE installed and running with no upgrades.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

That's a nice catch. Who would have thought. Good to know.

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

JeffTsai thanks for the info. I haven't had time to get under there as I was busy all weekend. I am going to get some cheap trans fluid to do the testing and once I figure it out wether its a cooler line or main seal I will flush it out and start with new tranny fluid. With my luck it is probably the endtank on the radiator. I'll hopefully know tonight. Thanks agian

I have been reading post on differnt swaps out there and 5-7k is what I was thinking/expecting.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

i wouldnt recommend cheap trans fluid. You need T-4 or equivilant for our tranny.

T-4 fluid is pretty cheap already n it can be found in the toyota/lexus dealerships. a good replace ment for T-4 is Amsoil but that cost nearly twice as much.

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

That was only going to be for testing purposes to pinpoint the leak. I would then flush everything out and get amsoil or the T-4

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

OK here is a pic after I filled it up with fluid. started dripping almost immedialty after 2nd qt.



I think its the main seal. Is there a DIY on changing that bad boy?

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Oh that sucks man. Looks like the seal on the transmission front pump went out. The seal itself is a cheap part to replace but the all the work is in the labor of pulling the trans out and replacing the seal .

If you're around the DFW area I could help ya out. If not, a 3rd party mechanic shop will probably charge around $600-800 to do this repair. Do not take it to the dealer unless you want to be faced with a $1500+ bill lol. Again, the actual repair is simple but removing the trans from the car takes a good bit of labor/time. You might also want to replace the engine rear main seal while you're down there as well. It's another one of the items that can only be replaced with the trans removed.

DIY is out of the question unless you have experience in pulling transmissions and repairing them. I could do a writeup, but I would just be wasting my time because 99.999% of people wouldn't even attempt a job like this.

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Nah, it's perfectly fine to use cheap trans fluid. Just make sure it's Dextron III. Don't use anything else, well you can but I won't gaurantee the car will run properly. I run any Dextron 3 I can get my hands on rather than Toyota T-IV. The Toyota stuff has more slip additive in it to allow for smoother shifting. Think about it though, do you want to be slipping(wearing= slip) the transmission out just to have smooth shifts? The Dextron 3 has less slip additive in it so the trans does not slip as much. The more you slip, the more the clutches in the transmission wears out. You can barely tell the slip difference unless you really pay attention so I just use the cheap stuff since I change my fluid very often. In fact I use regular old Dextron III from Walmart in my transmission and it holds up perfectly at 650-700hp+.

The best part...it only costs $10 per gallon

The only thing to watch out for is that conventional(non-synthetic) trans fluids need to be replaced more often than synthetic. FYI: Toyota T-IV is a conventional oil, not synthetic. The amsoil stuff is MUCH more expensive, usually at around $8-9 per quart! However, it lasts quite a while longer than the conventional stuff.

How often? Conventional fluid is recommended to be drained and refilled in the pan every 30k. This only involves a 2quart or so fluid exchange. If you drive the car really hard and mash the gas ALL the time then you can expect to do the drain/refill as often as 10k miles. On synthetic the numbers are generally multiplied 2-3x over conventional fluid. Note: This only holds true if you have a transmission filled with synthetic(approx 11-12 quarts). A drain and refill does not count as a full fluid exchange.

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

Jeff thanks for the info. I am in Houston and I appreciate your offer for the write up as well, But I think I am just going to bite the bullet. I almost downloaded the GS repair manual and then I remembered how much work will actually be involved.

Back in the day I replaced my f22 motor in my prelude with a JDM H22A so I think I could do the chore but I just don't have the time or tools needed.

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

If you're competent on working with cars. This is probably going to be a full days work if you're pulling this transmission for the first time. I'd say 4-5 hours to pull the trans, 30min-1hr to replace both seals, and then 5-6 hours to put it back on. Putting it on is harder than removing because you have to line everything up and then torque all parts back to spec. I can do the whole job of removing, replace seals, and reinstall in about 4-5 horus or so. Then again, I do it VERY often lol.

The only tools needed is a metric socket set of 10,12,14,17mm, breaker bar, 1/2 to 3/8 adapter, 3/8 wobble joint(u-joint), torque wrench, 4" & 12" & 36" long 3/8 drive extensions, and a transmission jack. Of course air tools and other shop tools will make it faster, but is not necessary. The above list is a bare minimum of tools to do this job. You can goto Harbor Freight and pick up about $200 of tools and be able to get the job done...that's only if you have the incentive to do the work

Dukespeed

iTrader: (1)

I guess really the only things I am missing on that list is the U-joint and the tranny jack. I have air tools as well. Hmmm maybe I will download that repair manual for 19.99.

I would be OK with taking two weekends to complete it. I will think about it a little more as I am in no hurry. Now I gotta factor in the tow to shop fee as well. My wife's cousin is a mechanic for Continental and I witnessed him pull and replace a Camry 4cyl engine in like 4 hrs. The kicker was it was the wrong engine and he had to re-tap the block for the engine mounts. Still in the car today running strong. I will see....