Hi, I need some advice re: the 5-speed manual transmission on my '87 King Cab 2wd pickup. It seems like there is some transmission fluid perpetually seeping from the transmission. Since I last wiped the transmission clean when I replaced the rear transmission seal (it was leaking a bit), I notice that trans. fluid seems to be leaking from around the area where the gear shift lever is, near the top of the housing. From looking in the repair manual, I see that there is a gasket around the plate for the shifter, and a rubber washer on the shifter itself.
My questions --
- is this a common place for the transmission to leak?
- can I replace the gasket and/or the rubber washer at the shifter from inside the truck, without having to remove the transmission? ie., is the hole in the floor of the truck big enough to get at the bolts?
-when I remove the shift lever, is there anything I should watch out for, eg. the transmission should be in a particular gear before I pull it out, and nothing is going to go "sproing!"
Thanks for any tips.