Gear oil leak from the top of my transmission

Howdy ya'll,

I researched quite extensively and I haven't been able to find the potential source of this leak. I was hoping I could get some help by giving me a link if this issue has been addressed or simply knowing what it is.

The two pictures below show where the leak is coming from. The leak seems to be coming from the control floor shift lever area. The right side of the picture is the transmission and the left side is the transfer case. It is even more confusing with the separate leak with the red circle underneath it.

 

Looks like the gasket seal is going bad.

 

What he said. There are rubber vent hoses (shown in your pics) that come out of the top of the transmission and transfer case. They are teed together and then it runs up between the engine and firewall and there are check valves at the end. If you are lucky, one hose is cracked at the transmission, but you also have the leak lower down. The shifter also has a gasket that seals it to the case.

Has that transmission been removed before? The routing of the harness doesn't look right.

The case doesn't have a gasket, it's an RTV type seal. It looks like you're gonna need to pull it to reseal it.

 

The clutch was replaced about 10,000 miles ago and I have about 194,000 in this Tacoma right now.

 

Bummer about just having a clutch put in.

I would try and get a better look at the top of the transmission and inspect the vent lines. I don't have any good pictures of that side, but maybe they didn't hook up the vent line to the T (more of a Y). It looks like it's hooked up in your pic, but I can't tell

At the top of the picture below, you can see a short transfer case vent hose joins to the transmission at the top near the shifter. IIRC, the "Y" is there, it's the thing sticking up above the hose, and the long vent line has been cut right at it. This line runs up between the engine and firewall. Again, it looks like it's attached in your pic, but double check.

I think the transmission is going to have to come out and be resealed. The transfer case and tailhousing are easy to remove once it's out; 90% of the labor is to R&R the trans.

 

I finally decided to take it in to have a lookse at. Mainly cause it was time for it's annual physical check up. Turns out it was simply the shift housing gasket. No need to drop the ole' thing.

 

I wouldn't call that a leak. It is seepage and very likely not affecting anything, including your fluid level. Not sure it is worth the bother.