Manual Transmission Leak?

Hello, so I literally just bought a first gen Tacoma! 2000 V6 SR5 TRD manual 5 speed w/ locking diff and 150k miles. I noticed when inspecting there is a leak near the transmission. Owner says he just got the transmission oil changed. I'm wondering if it either has a gasket problem or they overfilled it or something else? That's all my research has pointed me towards so far. I was hoping pics would maybe allow for you all to give some advice. Much appreciated in advance! Looking forward to a long and happy Tacoma ownership.

Pics here: https://goo.gl/HbA1el

 

I don't see any pics

 

No pics?

 

Sorry guys for some reason the forum is trying to show my ingur link as a photo even though it's a gallery. Fixed? I'm on a phone so it's tough.

 

would be hard to say if and where it is actually leaking. clean it really good and just pay attention to it. if it is leaking you will find it.

 

How do I know if I need to stop the leak if it is leaking? If it starts leaking I don't want it to break the transmission. If they overfilled it is that a problem? I read that I can open a drain plug and let some excess out to see that it is in fact overfilled. Is this safe to do, and if I do it, may it resolve the issue?

 

Are your valve covers leaking?

 

pull the fill plug on your transmission, if its over filled, it will leak out. im doubting that there too much in your transmission since its filled at that plug and will be leaking out as they were filling.

your going to want to clean it off first to see where it is leaking from (if it is). once you've found out where, just post up pics again. someone will chime in and give guidance.

 

While I was cleaning it I found a high up point where I think the leak is coming from. See pic. I think it's the right hand side where the part goes towards the body. Good? Bad?

 

From the pics on imgur, it's tough to tell if it is diff fluid (same oil used for manual transmission) or engine oil. It looks dark, which makes me lean towards engine oil, but I cannot say for sure. Have you tried smelling the fluid? Take a little dab of where the droplets are forming and smell it. Diff fluid and engine oil have distinct smells. Any other oil stains along the undercarriage?

As far as the oil stains up by the transfer case shifter, you could possibly be leaking some fluid from up there. There is a paper gasket that sits between the shifter base and the transfer case. Overtime it becomes saturated and can then begin to leak. It happened to me. I simply scraped it off, taking extreme care to not get any debris in the shifter hole. Then I applied a very thin bead of FIPG since I couldn't find a replacement gasket. Do not put to much, because if you do, when you compress it it might squeeze out and block your transfer case breather holes. You might have better luck at a dealership finding the gasket. I didn't. All in all, I doubt this area is leaking to the point to where it would stain that much.

 

you could cleaning the under carriage using some degreaer and rinsing it at a car wash. Then start paying attention as to where the oil stains start appearing. Also, check that the transmission and transfer case fill/drain plugs are torqued to their specified values. Sometimes the washer may not be compressed properly.

 

I think I'm gonna clean it and get gasket material and gasket sealer since I'm pretty sure it is the gasket by the shifter. Another thread said this issue is the transfer case. Sound like I'm talking about the right part? They also said make sure the breather hose can breath. Do I need an air compressor for that or can canned air check it?

 

Transfer case is what the front driveshaft is connected to.

 

Also what type of Fel Pro Gasket paper do I want?

There is blue, cork, paper, gray...

Edit: I ordered paper, hope it's right