Leak in Transmission mount thread

I replaced my transmission mount the other day and when I pulled one of the screws out it was wet and some fluid came out of the hole. It did not drip more than what is pictured. I put some PTFE tape on the screw, put it back torqued it, then prayed to the spirit of Kiichiro and the 4x4 gods. How cooked am I?

 

Shouldn’t contain any oil unless the bolt is too long and punctured through which I don’t think happened. Or it was previously removed and bolt dropped into the oil catch can or rethread with cutting oil.

 

if fluid did not 'flow' out.....think your fine
make sure you brake cleaned those hole threads so the spirit of Kiichiro will abide

keep this in your memory bank......if you have to take off again, might have to drill in a helicoil

 

What color is it? take a piece of paper towel and let it soak into it and see if it matches the color of the transmission fluid.

 

Well yes, it containing oil is why I'm concerned. I have no service history for this car before I bought it, but I suspect the mount that I removed was the original. My thought was there was a internal crack slightly above the Oil level so the space behind the screw could fill when the tranny is in motion but not leak any more when it is not. Maybe a slight defect in the casting?

 

It was gold like the manual tranny fluid

 

Leaks usually don’t just stop leaking - so no more leaked out after the original drip in the picture? You can remove the bolt and hose it down with brake clean and shine a light in there to see what’s going on - I would have done it when the mount was off, but wouldn’t make a difference I guess.

 

Yes no more drip than what initially came out. I just talked to my motor head friend and he said it is common that mount holes can go all the way through, so I suspect the casting may just be super thin at the back of the bolt hole. I will take this one back out and take a look as you suggested though.

 

If the hole went through the trans case and it's below the line created by the fill hole (and your trans has enough gear oil in it), it would leak continually if the bolt was out and maybe even with it in.

Is this the tape you put on the threads or aluminum threads from the trans that came off from the trans case?

 

That is shmoo and oil. I dont remember there being thread fragments in it. The tape I put on was just the white PTFE plummers tape.

 

Awefully shiny for "shmoo" - anyway you won't know until you remove the bolt again and look with a light and / or poke in there with something that will fit up there. How did the threads feel when tightening the bolt again?

 

They felt perfectly normal. Everything went super smooth besides the oil

 

Don't overthink it. Check it every now and then. If it's showing signs of leaking then support the trans and pull the mount completely to really inspect it. Or, just pull that bolt again now and stick a screwdriver in there. If it goes in more than the length of the bolt, yeah you'll need to pull out the options list to resolve. Other than that, send.

 

I’m not an alarmist but I like to know things when I come across them and they’re an unknown.

I just don’t think it’s gear oil unless it’s something that got spilled down the side of the trans case when filling and got stuck between the mount and the case. If you ever overfill something and it’s running out the fill hole, it doesn’t just stop for no reason unless it actually is level with the fill hole. It seems highly unlikely that the bolt is sealing in a hole in the case that just happens to be at the perfect height where only one drop comes out.

 

I'd bet that is antiseize that has gummed a bit.

And if there was no leakage before the bolt removed, I'd worry more about getting pregnant then the transmission because I have the wrong plumbing.

 

I'm going to pull it out tonight and poke in the hole. This was the only bolt with anything on it so i doubt it was anti-seize. We will get some answers. Standby

 

Ever heard the phrase ''don't poke a sleeping bear?" This is one of those times.

 

Did it smell like gear oil? That stuff is stinky