Leaky Shift Shaft Seal...TURTCEL

[TURTCEL]

So I am in a rough spot with my Terc right now. I have been smelling a little gear oil after driving my car and then letting it sit. I notice the smell only after driving and then letting it sit before driving again. I jacked up my Terc today only to find that my 4wd shift shaft has an oil leak.

I would not be so concerned but the fact is the seal is so bad that it drips pretty good after a drive...even though I see no oil on the ground. I had to add gear oil to top off the trans...filling it through the diff fill plug hole. In order to keep the seal from leaking too bad so that I can still drive my only transportation I had to take away my 4wd option temporarily (sad tears).

I removed the shifting rod from the shift shaft and the lower connection on the shifter assembly in order to eliminate excess movement from the shaft. I then took zip ties and snugged the shift shaft arm up to the trans to keep it from wobbling or shifting in and out. My theory is that the seal has a matched wear spot on the shift shaft so hopefully snugging it up will allow a different surface to mate to the worn seal for now maybe lessening the leak. I have a new seal in Nor Cal in my storage unit but I am in Seattle. The dealer can get the seal but it is Labor Day weekend so not till next week.

The problem I am running in to is that I can not get the bolt out of the shift shaft arm in order to slide the arm off. I had my trans out at one time doing my clutch with intention of replacing the seal then but could not get the arm off then either. Any tips on removing the arm without damaging anything?

I also read a post talking about this same issue and one member mentioned using a product called Seal-All before to fix similar problems. It is an easy flow sealant that I would imagine could help with the leaky seal for a bit but not forever.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I was planning on heading up to the mountains this weekend but now only having a 2wd wagon I am gonna hold off so I don't get myself caught in a bad situation out in the woods.

Peace

[larry mcgrath]

this seal is verry easy to replace. jack up the trany -remove trany cross member and mount- loosen the bolt that holds the shift linkage to the shaft. LOOSEN THE NUT ON THE SHIFT LINKAGE A COUPLE OF TURNS -USE A LARGE HAMMER ON THE OPSITE SIDE OF THE NUT AS A BACK UP SO YOU DONT BEND THE SHAFT. WITH ANOTHER HAMER HIT THE NUT (this bolt is a tappered bolt (Morrison Taper )that secures the linkage to the shaft,a sharp blow will loosen it from its seat. when you remove the linkage there is a thinn washer under the linkage that acts as a dust seal -dont foget to re-instal it. Tha shaft is case hardned and the seal gets hard and leaks ,the shaft is not the problem , the rubber seal just gets hard over the years. The seal can be removed easly weth a flat bladed screw driver by carfully prying it from the recess ,clean the shaft with Crocus Cloth (real fine sand paper and oil as a lube) instal seal with a large deep socket to drive the seal back into the recess (use some RTV on the outside of the seal,and a little grease on the lip of the seal.for lube. instal the thinn washer back on the shaft and linkage ect -and your ready to go.This is a real simple fix. I did this last year to The Rocket ,the seal from toyota was around $ 6.00. Larry

[TURTCEL]

Thanks Larry...good to hear from you. I have a seal in Cali from Toyota but will have to order a new one this week since I can't get the one I have.

I hate having a 2wd/4wd Terc...I feel like a poser...haha.

Peace

[Petros]

some one on the list had made a temp seal by wrapping string around the shaft tightly behind the shift arm. It stopped the leaking, at least for a while, seemed like a simple fix.

[ARCHINSTL]

takza did the original string fix, as did I a couple of years ago. I also used Permatex Black RTV (just the most handy).
It works to this day - of course, I've had to renew it each Spring, as it loosens up with Winter shifting in and out of 4WD.
Field Expediency.

OT, but I was tempted to change the title of the thread from
Leaky Shift Shaft Seal...TURTCEL
to
Seeping Shift Shaft Seal...TURTCEL
Say that one fast three times!
I always loves me some alliteration.
Tom M.

[TURTCEL]

Hey Tom I said it fast 3 times and now I can't stop drooling...haha.

Peace

[ARCHINSTL]

But - the acid test is to say it fast three times while
Seeing Seeping Shift Shaft Seal Sitting by the Sea Shore with Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent...
Tom M.

[TURTCEL]

Ouch...that made my head hurt just a little bit.

[TURTCEL]

[quote="ARCHINSTL"]takza did the original string fix, as did I a couple of years ago. I also used Permatex Black RTV (just the most handy).
It works to this day - of course, I've had to renew it each Spring, as it loosens up with Winter shifting in and out of 4WD.
Field Expediency.

So for this string fix to be done correctly I am guessing that the shift shaft arm needs to be removed before I wrap the shaft with the string? Also, should I coat the string with RTV sealant before I wrap the shaft? What string type is recommended for this "temp" fix? And one last thing, how much do I wrap the shaft with string...enough to fit snuggly between the shift arm and the trans body?

I plan on doing this procedure this weekend so I can cruise up to the mountains for a little day drive....it sucks not having 4wd.

Peace

[ARCHINSTL]

The arm does not have to be removed. Obviously, the car has to be up as high as you can get it on your jackstands to give enough room to work and reach it.
WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!
I just used "regular white string," although I guess that brown package twine could be used as well. I thought about coating the string before tying it, but that lasted about 30 seconds until I discovered how sloppy that was going to be...
After cleaning the area of the hole really well with mineral spirits (NO acetone or MEK!), I globbed on the goo and let it sit for an hour or so. Then I wrapped the string around the shaft until it filled up the gap between the case and the arm. Then I applied another layer of the goo, covering the string.
Tom M.

[c_j]

... cleaning the area of the hole really well with mineral spirits (NO acetone or MEK!)...

I understand why to use mineral spirits(solvent/varsol/oil-based-paint thinner), but what is bad about acetone and MEK?

[ARCHINSTL]

They MAY dissolve whatever is left of the OE seal. No point in taking a chance.
I do use acetone and MEK for many things, but not around paint or plastic/rubber bits.
Tom M.

[TURTCEL]

So I performed the string repair seal job today on my 4wd shift shaft. I removed the trans cross member and the shift shaft arm. I used brake cleaner to prep the surface before applying a decent layer of Permatex Ultra Copper RTV sealant around the seal. I then wound twine around the shaft with the large flat washer on the shaft to keep the twine coiling in a nice even amount. I then applied more RTV to the string after tying it off. I then reinstalled the shifter arm and linkage. After I finished installing the cross member I let the car sit for the last 3 hours without driving. I did do an initial 4wd shift test just to make sure all was assembled correctly.

We will see how the seal job works out but with the way things look I am confident that the seal job should work pretty well until I order a new one from the dealer. Thanks to everyone on the tips to get my 4wd working again. I will be heading to the mountains tomorrow.

Peace

[dlb]

i'm not familiar with that particular permatex but all the other permatex stuff i use says that it sets in an hour but requires 24 hrs to cure. when i use it, like on transmissions or oil pans or thermostat housings, i put the parts back together and do the nuts and bolts up finger tight, then an hour later i tighten them until they are barely snug. then i leave it and won't even put oil or coolant back in until after 24 hours. i have had good success with that method.

[TURTCEL]

So the factory shift shaft seal (9031216001) is no longer available from Toyota and doesn't cross reference to any aftermarket manufacturers. I performed the string seal fix with very poor results. I have come up with a new idea for a fix though. Since there is a little space between the shift arm and the trans case where I wrapped the string then I would imagine an o-ring would do an even better job. Figure it will seat into the worn seal portion as well as be oil resistant.

Any thoughts on this idea and has anyone tried this fix in the past with sharable results?

I am going to attempt this fix this weekend if I start feeling better (been under the weather) and will report back with my results.

Peace