Vitara gearbox oil leak???

[finners]

I've had my 92 Vitara for 2 weeks and when I bought it I degreased the whole motor, gearbox, transfer and diffs, then put new oil in them all. I hadn't found any visible leaks until I got under to do a suspension lift on the weekend. There seems to be gearbox oil coming out of the top of the gearbox somewhere and running down the side of the box??????? Can it be a sensor or switch or is coming out of where the shifter goes in??? I haven't had time to pull the console out and look at the base of the shifter. I don't think it's the transfer because the oil seems to be further up near the bellhousing but it doesn't seem to be comin out the back of the motor???? Any thoughts???

[rosie]

I've got a leak in the same place with mine but mines engine oil. It is from the distributor seal but i've had it replaces so i'll see if it goes away and get back to ya

[lay80n]

If does sound like a distributor o-ring leak. If its not coming from round the shifter, then it sounds like its coming from the engine if your seeing it at the top of the box. Remeber that Gravity stops oil flowing uphill . Open your bonnet and run your hand bellow the distributor right hand drive adapter and see if there is oil or residue there.
Report back for further instruction . Its a simple job to fix if it is this.


Layto....

[finners]

Thanks guys for the input, still haven't had a chance to pull console apart to check if it's gearbox or motor, but had a quick look this morning and there seems to be an old oil stain on the bell housing end of the box which is probably from the dizzy as you say or the cylinder head. The fresh oil seems to be coming from the middle of the box up near the top, which makes me think it could be the shifter, the leak is just outta sight under the tranny tunnel looking from under the bonnet. Anyhow, enough speculating, have Thursday morning off so I'll pull the console apart then and will post my findings. Thanks again for your input.

[SiKiD_01]

a vitara gearbox has 2 holes on top of the gearbox facing outwards. these holes have rubber plugs/grommets in them. these arent all that tight, and can pop out if your gearbox breather is blocked.

there should be 2 infront of the manual shifter, one facing left and the other right. even if you pull the centre console, you might not be able to see them, but you should be able to feel around for them.

my plugs fell out, and let oil dribble out the side. and they also let a lot of water into the gearbox too. but i go swimming in my vit. i took the plugs out, and i used liquid tube gasket and just filled the area up. no more probs now.

also, make sure the car is cold before you go feeling around the gearbox and engine.

other sources of the leak could be the dizzy O rings. i replaced the O rings, and as i put the dizzy back on, i liquid tube gasketed it too. not much, but enough.

i ran a couple of weeks with my rubber shifter boot off. not much oil comes out of the shifter holes. this is not the boot for the centre console, it is the boot on the actual shoter lever that goes over the gearbox hole.

this are the main areas i would look at if the oil leak is from the top of the gearbox area.

[SiKiD_01]

ok, i wish i had a better close up pic, but this shows where on the box the holes are, and how the leaking affects everything.

remember, the leaking oil does blow backwards when driving, so most leaks are forward of the wetness.

this is when the plugs fell out (but i put new ones in, and they soon fell out after anyway), and when my rear main seal pooped itself, and leaky dizzy O rings. so if your box looks like this, you're in trouble.

[finners]

a vitara gearbox has 2 holes on top of the gearbox facing outwards. these holes have rubber plugs/grommets in them. these arent all that tight, and can pop out if your gearbox breather is blocked.

there should be 2 infront of the manual shifter, one facing left and the other right. even if you pull the centre console, you might not be able to see them, but you should be able to feel around for them.

my plugs fell out, and let oil dribble out the side. and they also let a lot of water into the gearbox too. but i go swimming in my vit. i took the plugs out, and i used liquid tube gasket and just filled the area up. no more probs now.

also, make sure the car is cold before you go feeling around the gearbox and engine.

other sources of the leak could be the dizzy O rings. i replaced the O rings, and as i put the dizzy back on, i liquid tube gasketed it too. not much, but enough.

i ran a couple of weeks with my rubber shifter boot off. not much oil comes out of the shifter holes. this is not the boot for the centre console, it is the boot on the actual shoter lever that goes over the gearbox hole.

this are the main areas i would look at if the oil leak is from the top of the gearbox area.

Thanks SIKID,

I think you may have hit the nail on the head for me. Where those plugs are is exactly where the oil seems to be coming from. I didn't realise the shifter was so far back. I doubt now that it is coming from there. Will look and let you know.

One question though, sorry to be a pain in the neck, you say the plugs pop out coz the gearbox breather may be blocked. Can you show me on the photo of your gearbox where the breather is??? and how do I unblock or replace it??

I'll PM you incase you don't see this post

Thanks again

[SiKiD_01]

ok.

in the pic above, you can see the hoses running down the side. these are breather hoses. they are not very long, and if you look in your engine bay behind the dizzy and on top of the bell housing, you should be able to see it with the wiring.



1 = transfer breather hose
2 = gearbox breather hose
3 = is a T junction where they both meet up and go into 1 hose, but it also stops here too.

so just pull the hose off where i have circled, and you can also use hose clamps too if your also not sure if they will hold on. then just run enough hose into the engine bay and up the firewall. you front diff breather should also be up in the area also.

[finners]

Thanks again SIKID

All crystal clear, hopefully the plugs are my only problem.

Will keep ya posted

[finners]

Well I got underneath today and had a feel round for the plugs, could only find one on the passenger side which is weird?????? My gearbox seems a little different to yours, mines 1992??????

But that is where the oil seems to be comin from,(no oil down the drivers side), so I filled up with ultra black silicon not sure if there was a plug in there or not so i just filled the hole up anyhow.

I also noticed there is a slight leak from the dizzy, so will chase up some genuine o rings today and fix next week.

Found end of diff/transfer breather, but really hard to feel where they go on the box/transfer to change them. Car is going on a hoist next to work this weekend while it gets extractors and exhaust system so it may be easier to change and extend breather then, if not i'll just extend it into engine bay, doesn't seem to be blocked, took plug off end and was clean as a whistle but i suppose this doesn't mean the box end isn't blocked.