How screw'd am I?, tranny leaking fluid Options

[jrcui]

Another complete newbie, mechanical idiot question.... I think my tranny is leaking fluid. There's fluid seeping out of the seam along the bell housing. I don't think its oil because the fluid seems thicker than motor oil and there is no leaking around the sump or oil filter.

I don't have the tools or know how so I've been getting my car worked on by Motor Sports International in Portland. I have a feeling that it's going to cost me a bunch. Will I have to drop the motor to work on the tranny?

Lastly, being told that my alternator may not be fully charging so that's going to add to the cost.....

Other than that, I love my car!!!

Mahalos,
Vince
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/confused24.gif)

[Eric Taylor]

My car is doing the same thing, but mine is not seeping onto the floor, just down the trany case. I've replaced both the rear main on the engine and the input shaft seal on two separate occasions (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif) and at this point it's not leaking enough for me to care. I think it might be the seal between the breather and the case, that would be a good place to check first. If you do decide to do the input seals, its really not that bad. I did both without dropping the engine, and honestly it's not that bad at all to get the tranny out. Heres a couple of couple of tips from someone whos been their. Make sure you place something under the motor to support it, like a jack stand when you pull the tranny. If you don't the motor will want to fall out of the car when remove the tranny from the mounts, ask me how i know (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif) . Also devise a good plan for the moving the tranny down, because it's an akward bitch on the top of a floor jack, I almost dropped it one time. Anyway, it can be done easily with some careful planning. Good luck you can do it and it's a great feeling of accomplishment when you get the tranny out for the first time.
Eric