ljmushock

So I was changing my oil today and noticed this!

Here is a close up of the damage. It's definitely coming from the seal between the tranny and the motor.

Looks pretty ugly, Im taking her down to the dealership pronto to make a service appointment. Still under warranty for another 40 K, but I'm surprised to see an oil leak this large on an only 4 yr old car?

Any of the other 6MT's or AT's noticed rear main seal leaks?

jproy

That is one hell of a leak. Was any of the oil there at the last oil change? If that happened within only 3k miles that is impressive seal failure. I have a six speeder as well. My tranny was redone with the whole clutch, rear main, and input shaft seal after a similar leak at 85,000 miles. Mine looked the same when both seals had failed. It cost me $3500. Is your clutch slipping at all? Are you hard on the car? Thank God you are under warranty! I hope it plays out in your favor.

ljmushock

i thought the same thing! hell of leak! last oil change I noticed some dry build up but not wet and dripping like this was.

jproy

check this thread for my troubles.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184275


Something else to consider, it could be that you have over filled your manual trans fluid. There is a TSB for dealers with '03 6MT CL's and '04+ 6mt TL's. The trans calls for 2+ quarts for trans fluid. I forget the exact amount. Every time I have changed mine I put the exact amount in. Fluid was still leaking from the inspection plate after the rebuild. I brought it to the dealer and they showed me that the trans was over filled. There is a bolt on the front side of the trans about 4-5 inches above the trans drain bolt. This bolt is to be removed when filling the trans fluid and trans fluid is to be added until it starts to drain out through this bolt. If your trans was over filled the excess will overflow through a weep hole in the clutch housing and drain out through the inspection plate much like a rear main seal or a main input shaft seal leak. Naturaly, you would think one of your seals failed. To check if your trans is over filled simply remove the bolt with the car level. Any excess will drain off. When it stops draining from the bolt replace it and you are good to go. I brought up the exact fill volume because mine was significantly over filled and I used the exact amount specified which leads me to beleve it is acutaly about a 1/4 quart less than OEM specified or simply varies significantly from tranny to tranny. Make sure the dealer checks this before they try to tear anything apart. I think I still have the TSB the mechanic printed for me. Let me know if you need a copy of it. Jim

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

ive heard multiple cases of rear main seals leaking, both auto and manual, supercharged and not, seems to be an issue that acura/honda has not addressed. suprise suprise.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

good points but by the look of the pictures, i doubt there is any overfill left. if you bring it to the dealer and they dont do anything about it. wipe it down and see if it comes back.

jproy

The fill level bolt I am talking about is acutaly the small bolt at the top of your picture right above the trans drain bolt. I watched the dealer remove it and drain off the significant amount of excess fill. It looks to be a 10-12 millimeter.

fsttyms1

Thats a big leak. Hopefully its not being blown all over the clutch (probably is) id get that in to be replaced.

jproy

With regard to it not having much over fill left from the look of the pics, mine looked the same as his pics after being cleaned three times over 5000 miles. It looked the same every time. Even after cleaning it thoroughly it still drained for a minute or two when the mechanic at the dealer removed the fill level bolt. It is fine now.

ljmushock

Thanks, just got back from the dealer... He said it is most likely just overfill spilling out and nothing to worry about... They cleaned up the evidence and they are going to check it out in about a week to see if it is still leaking.... Up on the lift the leak did not look too bad. A lot of what I saw was just old dried up residue... Problem should be solved for now but I will def drain out any excess tranny fluid next time I do a flush and refill.

GreenMonster

Jim, if you have the TSB number off the top of the report, I can link an online source probably

GreenMonster

I thought there was a TSB on the RMS and how there was a redesigned seal to deal with the issue... but I can't find a reference to it now.

This is the only TSB I found about leaks... and it mentions using JB Weld

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B01-041.PDF

ljmushock

I clicked the link but nothing came up? Im confused though, TSB RMS? sorry not too familiar with those terms yet...

mclarenf3387

TSB=Technical Service Bulletin
RMS=Rear Main Seal

jproy

I will find The TSB and get back. ljmushock, I hope it is just over fill. Glad to hear they think it is at this point. Best of luck to you sir.

ljmushock

appreciate it! I know whatever it is the dealer will hopefully take care of it if there is anything majorly mechanically wrong. Otherwise I'm content with a bit of overflow...

jproy

I found the TSB but there are no numbers on it

Type S Zero

in fall 2003 i took out a transmission (MT) for nothing because of that, i thought it was the input shaft seal, but once in my hands, i found out about that breather in the bell housing is dripping the overfill.

here's bad pic i took that day :



they had no idea at honda techline at first. i was told someone in ontario also took one off because of leaking but never called them back to give more details.

now i see on that TSB, the date is feb 20th 2004. i guess they looked further after my call and sending them the pictures, and also probably other techs started calling about this issue.

then, we got to sell a few MT TLs and they started getting back for their first few maintenance services, and at about 15~20 000 km + they started to show some oil at the same place. so all V6 MT transmission are prone to do this.

(i still don't understand why the in-bell housing breather instead of top of the housing like other honda trannies)

Type S Zero

oups... didn't read the linked TSB...i thought it was about the breather leaking oil...

jproy

I wonder how many MT's have been pulled by Acura and non-Acura techs becuase of this.

ljmushock

i dunno, but the dealer yesterday told me there was pretty much no point in pulling the tranny unless the leak came back really bad

jproy

Try removing the fill level bolt yourself and see what comes out. Did the dealer even do that? If they didnt, I assure you the fluid drip will come back. Like I said above, mine did it three times over 5000 miles until the dealer in Birmingham found the TSB. When he pulled the bolt fluid came out steadily for about two minutes and this was after it had already made a huge mess three times mind you. I watched him do it. God bless him. I watch them work on my car every time. When I dont they "f" something up every time. My frustration with them here in Baton Rouge has no limit. In fairness to Acura, I have been to some great dealers by my dealer standards.

rondog

iTrader: (1)

I had something like that on my 01 CL, turns out it was a tranny seal at the drive shaft, a $5 gasket, but labor would have been more. the oil drips down and gets dirty to look liek a rear main seal. get under there and look at the point where the axle enters the tranny, and there is a seal in there that will probably show a cleaner drip of fluid. Also, wipe it down and see where the clean fluid is coming from just to make sure, rather than let the dealer do work or blame it on something else.

rp_guy

ugh, happening to me now.. first drips on the driveway and then i lifted the car, and it looks exactly like the first post here..

i'll take pics soon..

anyone else?

underst8

Sorry slight (related) hijack - does the CL have a main front crank seal? I am getting 105k done and crank pulley installed and I noticed on the TL it is recommended to change the front crank seal but I could not find the part for the CL on oemacuraparts and I am ordering soon... ok end of hijack.

CL FWD SPEED

According to the manual, they say add about 2.5 quarts of honda manual trans fluild

JimmyJames

I think the capacity of the transmission is 2.5 quarts but the change amount is 2.2 quarts.

jproy

Fill amount is not exact and should NOT be used as a what to fill the trans with. YOU MUST level the car, remove the 10mm trans fill/over fill bolt on the trans 4-5 inches above the trans drain bolt and foll only until fluid begins to come out of the hole. Let it stop draining and replace the over fill bolt. DO NOT just dump 2.2qt of fluid in there and be done with it.

JimmyJames

Do you have this bulletin still? I am going to the dealership in a few hours to have them investigate the visible leaking under the transmission and would like to have it handy.

And to clarify on the fill amount I posted above, jproy is correct, you fill until it starts to overflow and then wait until it stops coming out. Should be about 2-2.2 quarts worth. Do it when the car is level.

Chemmech

Make sure, if the rear main oil seal is replaced, that they use the updated part.

jproy

yes I do but they should too. It was just a small section on page 4 of a 7 page Dealer only TSB from October 2005. I wouldnt be so quick to show them or tell them about it because they may just hap hazardly tell you that is what it is so they dont have to do the work. Just tell them you know either the main input shaft seal on the trans is leaking(fact; the trans has to be removed and torn apart to replace this) or the rear main seal on the engine is leaking (fact; trans still has to come out and the clutch has to be removed to replace it so it may be a good time to have the clutch redone). If the pressure plate and fly wheel look good do not replace them. if you take a pic and post it here of what they look like I will be happy to make that call for you. I have seen quite a few of them. dont take any shit.

JimmyJames

Just got back, I'll post up the whole experience next week when I get the car back for a bit. Basically, I took in pics of the "wet" area along the line of engine to transmission and said this is either a leaking rear main seal or input shaft seal. I need it fixed.
They said no problem; we actually just had 2 of those last week. It should be covered under warranty. Just in case though, if it isn't, you'll have to pay for the tear down.
I called BS and said that I'd like a little bit better odds than that. He checked with service manager and he said they needed to do a dye test anyway to justify the warranty repair so if it is positive, then I'm all good. They're doing motor oil first, then transmission fluid after that. Apparently, he says there is an access plate to see if dye is leaking. Car must be driven 100 miles after putting it in.
I am in NYC for the next few days so I'll know something next week. They are pretty sure it is a leaky seal though.
They also said new clutch install would be no problem while they have the tranny out.
Pics and updates later.
To the OP or anyone else (mod) You want me to start a new thread or post this in here? Don't want to thread jack but thought here may be most appropriate.

jproy

If no one else cares this seems like a great thread for leaking seals on either side of the clutch

JimmyJames

I realized the other day I never followed up on what happened.
basically, the dealership put the dye in and gave it back to me to drive for a while.
I also wiped the bottom of the car clean to see if the wetness came back too.
After about 1000 miles, I went back, the bottom was still clean, and they checked the transmission. They claim that the leak was from the overflow tube and that no seals were bad.
Based upon what I had heard of techs overfilling the transmission cases, the next weekend I changed my fluid (properly). The shifting has definitely improved and no leaks.
I also just changed the timing belt and the main and crank seals all appear to not be leaking so I am satisfied.

rp_guy

does anyone have the part numbers for the rear main seal and front input shaft seal?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

91214-p8a-a01