2001 c5 front transmission leak
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Brandon Ms
2001 c5 front transmission leak
I recently became proud owner of a C5 but I see a small amount of transmission fluid under car on carport, It appears to be at front end of Transmission where torque tube is going in, I guess it is the front pump seal leaking just a little right now. I have searched and searched and can not find anyone actually posting can torque tube be dropped under car and this seal replace while transmission and drive unit are all still in car, if so how much could i expect to pay to have someone replace this seal or can i just run it a while if it doesnt get any worse or possibly stops. This car has done a lot of sitting in its 17 years.
Thank you all for any help you can share my way.
Thank you all for any help you can share my way.
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trans will have to come out, no way around it... it isn't a particularly hard job but you will have to drop the whole rear suspension along with the trans and diff so it is labor intensive... once it is leaking it won't just all of a sudden stop, it may not be bad now but the longer it goes on the worse it can potentially get... I would say around $800 to remove/reinstall plus the cost of whatever part(s) need to be replaced
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Brandon Ms
trans will have to come out, no way around it... it isn't a particularly hard job but you will have to drop the whole rear suspension along with the trans and diff so it is labor intensive... once it is leaking it won't just all of a sudden stop, it may not be bad now but the longer it goes on the worse it can potentially get... I would say around $800 to remove/reinstall plus the cost of whatever part(s) need to be replaced
Well Sir, Thank you very much for you valued information even though it nots quite what i wanted to hear I ask for the truth and you gave it to me. Haha Dang why can anything ever be easy Im find out on one of the cars cause of everything so hard to get too. Oh after i put this post out there for help i actually did find a post where someone had taken a picture of the same place my little leak is hanging under the front case at. I also noticed the weep hole up the side of the case a little and nothing is coming out that weep hole so leak may not be really bad right now. This man was talking about cleaning the area really good with brake clean and then using silicone to run along the bottom of that case to stop the fluid from reaching the ground. At least i would'nt notice the small stop on the carport floor maybe for a while till i find someone i trust enough to pull all that unit out of the car.
Thank you all you fine folk for your answers and at 59 years old and having many hotrods and older cars in the past like i said this is my first vette and i love it.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
I've noticed the same thing on my 99.
Trans fluid on the garage floor, not much but still.
I thought it was the output shaft seal but I got under there just now and no, it looks like it's coming from the front of the trans. 1 drip forming on the bottom of the pan
You can't just pull the input shaft, the driveshaft ??
Thanks
Trans fluid on the garage floor, not much but still.
I thought it was the output shaft seal but I got under there just now and no, it looks like it's coming from the front of the trans. 1 drip forming on the bottom of the pan
You can't just pull the input shaft, the driveshaft ??
Thanks
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
Joined: Dec 2010
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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
the trans input shaft goes into the torque tube probably 6 inches or more so there is no way to do it without removing the whole rear suspension with the trans and diff
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
I may be getting confused here.
There is a differential and there is a Transmission bolted to the front of the differential.
I was just under there and I did not identify each one or exactly where the leak is coming from except to see that it is not leaking at the differential output shafts, the leak is more centered and more forward of that. The drip I noticed looked like it was at the front of a sheet metal pan. I'm now thinking that this is a Transmission leak of some type.
I have an auto trans.
I was under there and the neighbor came over and started talking to me so I got distracted. He was saying that he hoped I hadn't been under there all night so I felt I had to get out just so he didn't call the fire dept. or something ... lol
There is a differential and there is a Transmission bolted to the front of the differential.
I was just under there and I did not identify each one or exactly where the leak is coming from except to see that it is not leaking at the differential output shafts, the leak is more centered and more forward of that. The drip I noticed looked like it was at the front of a sheet metal pan. I'm now thinking that this is a Transmission leak of some type.
I have an auto trans.
I was under there and the neighbor came over and started talking to me so I got distracted. He was saying that he hoped I hadn't been under there all night so I felt I had to get out just so he didn't call the fire dept. or something ... lol
Last edited by Secret237; Jul 8, 2018 at 01:47 PM.
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
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is it coming from the front or rear of the trans?... even if it's at the rear of the trans you will still have to pull the rear suspension and diff to get at the trans output shaft seal
Last edited by StingrayRebel; Jul 8, 2018 at 01:59 PM.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
Thanks
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Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Brandon Ms
Hey Sir,
Im glad you wrote me about what yours is doing just like mine, now this is only after talking to two different people. One being My regular Tech at the shop and One man being a long time Transmission shop owner that know the cars very well both told me the same thing, If fluid is not coming out of the weep hole it is most like not the front pump seal leaking but like you said most likely the Transmission pan itself seeping a little which is pretty common i understand. I drove the thing this weekend and parked it yesterday and it has "not" leaked a drop so Ill feeling pretty good about it being the pan gasket. We will see.
Oh while i was talking to the man at the transmission shop i again ask him about what kinda cost to fix the seal if it is it, He laughed a little and said "Jeff" our guys can pull that whole underneath of that rear end in about 45 minutes and change that seal and have fluid back in it and serviced in about two hours. Now the bad part is the labor book says this is a 8 hour job and thats what i can expect to pay for, doesnt seem quite fair does it but that how the Techs at the shops make there money. I told him i liked his honesty and i just hope all i have is a slight leak on the pan gasket every now and then. Thanks all you fine people will let yall know.
Im glad you wrote me about what yours is doing just like mine, now this is only after talking to two different people. One being My regular Tech at the shop and One man being a long time Transmission shop owner that know the cars very well both told me the same thing, If fluid is not coming out of the weep hole it is most like not the front pump seal leaking but like you said most likely the Transmission pan itself seeping a little which is pretty common i understand. I drove the thing this weekend and parked it yesterday and it has "not" leaked a drop so Ill feeling pretty good about it being the pan gasket. We will see.
Oh while i was talking to the man at the transmission shop i again ask him about what kinda cost to fix the seal if it is it, He laughed a little and said "Jeff" our guys can pull that whole underneath of that rear end in about 45 minutes and change that seal and have fluid back in it and serviced in about two hours. Now the bad part is the labor book says this is a 8 hour job and thats what i can expect to pay for, doesnt seem quite fair does it but that how the Techs at the shops make there money. I told him i liked his honesty and i just hope all i have is a slight leak on the pan gasket every now and then. Thanks all you fine people will let yall know.
I've noticed the same thing on my 99.
Trans fluid on the garage floor, not much but still.
I thought it was the output shaft seal but I got under there just now and no, it looks like it's coming from the front of the trans. 1 drip forming on the bottom of the pan
You can't just pull the input shaft, the driveshaft ??
Thanks
Trans fluid on the garage floor, not much but still.
I thought it was the output shaft seal but I got under there just now and no, it looks like it's coming from the front of the trans. 1 drip forming on the bottom of the pan
You can't just pull the input shaft, the driveshaft ??
Thanks
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
Hey Sir,
Im glad you wrote me about what yours is doing just like mine, now this is only after talking to two different people. One being My regular Tech at the shop and One man being a long time Transmission shop owner that know the cars very well both told me the same thing, If fluid is not coming out of the weep hole it is most like not the front pump seal leaking but like you said most likely the Transmission pan itself seeping a little which is pretty common i understand. I drove the thing this weekend and parked it yesterday and it has "not" leaked a drop so Ill feeling pretty good about it being the pan gasket. We will see.
Oh while i was talking to the man at the transmission shop i again ask him about what kinda cost to fix the seal if it is it, He laughed a little and said "Jeff" our guys can pull that whole underneath of that rear end in about 45 minutes and change that seal and have fluid back in it and serviced in about two hours. Now the bad part is the labor book says this is a 8 hour job and thats what i can expect to pay for, doesnt seem quite fair does it but that how the Techs at the shops make there money. I told him i liked his honesty and i just hope all i have is a slight leak on the pan gasket every now and then. Thanks all you fine people will let yall know.
Im glad you wrote me about what yours is doing just like mine, now this is only after talking to two different people. One being My regular Tech at the shop and One man being a long time Transmission shop owner that know the cars very well both told me the same thing, If fluid is not coming out of the weep hole it is most like not the front pump seal leaking but like you said most likely the Transmission pan itself seeping a little which is pretty common i understand. I drove the thing this weekend and parked it yesterday and it has "not" leaked a drop so Ill feeling pretty good about it being the pan gasket. We will see.
Oh while i was talking to the man at the transmission shop i again ask him about what kinda cost to fix the seal if it is it, He laughed a little and said "Jeff" our guys can pull that whole underneath of that rear end in about 45 minutes and change that seal and have fluid back in it and serviced in about two hours. Now the bad part is the labor book says this is a 8 hour job and thats what i can expect to pay for, doesnt seem quite fair does it but that how the Techs at the shops make there money. I told him i liked his honesty and i just hope all i have is a slight leak on the pan gasket every now and then. Thanks all you fine people will let yall know.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Likes: 9
From: Ivins, Utah
But if it were a Transmission pan gasket that would mean the Trans fluid that I see under the car would have had to move Froward from the pan gasket to get onto that bolt and boss on the front of the Transmission.
But then again I have never changed the Transmission fluid since I've owned the car, 12 years now, so maybe it's time ??
But then again I have never changed the Transmission fluid since I've owned the car, 12 years now, so maybe it's time ??
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Brandon Ms
Yes Sir, Thats this car also, Im sure Transmission has never been serviced in its 17 years. Oh the Transmission man at the shop told me that that fluid hanging at that bottom bolts can still be the gasket. He described the fluid as running along the top edges of the pan and even if it doesnt appear so that bottom bolt he say is the lowest place and it will collect there.
I still havent taken mine to him yet so I still dont know if any of what im writing here is actually the case, Im going too a car show this weekend and Ill be back out riding in it for a while and when I bring it back home Im going to see if its leaking anything after that. Please let me know if you get yours looked at before I do or if i get this one checked before you I will let you know.
Thanks
I still havent taken mine to him yet so I still dont know if any of what im writing here is actually the case, Im going too a car show this weekend and Ill be back out riding in it for a while and when I bring it back home Im going to see if its leaking anything after that. Please let me know if you get yours looked at before I do or if i get this one checked before you I will let you know.
Thanks