I've got a '97 (212k miles) with a 4.6 that has developed a mysterious water leak.
It's not the heater hoses.
I do not see any evidence of a leak around the passenger side rear like a head gasket leak might look like. It shows up after revving a little dripping off of the bell housing right in the middle of the truck. And it's a pretty good leak.


I just went out to the truck and crawled all under it. as it turns out, without the engine running, it still drips. Probably just due to head pressure. A steady drip.The curious part is that it appears to be coming out of the rubber plug at the bottom of the bell housing. I pulled the plug out and sure enough, I see drips falling off the bottom tooth of the ring gear. Start the truck and it really pours out of the drain hole in the bottom of the bell housing.

Are there freeze plugs under the bell housing?
It's a 4X4. How much of a job it it to pull the tranny out and reinstall it if there are plugs in there?
I have had a number of two wheel drive trannys out, all manual. Looks like a really big job. I have an adapter for a transmission to go on my floor jack.
And what benefit would I gain from replacing the torque converter to eliminate shudder while I'm in there.

Thanks