My '90 5-speed just recently started leaking tranny fluid. It's got the mazda tranny, and has just over 70,000 on it. It's dripping from the rear tailshaft, so I assume it's either coming from the rear seal or running back from the front. What's involved in replacing that seal, and how much are they?

 

Are you sure that it isnt leaking from the top of the tranny? Place your hand on top of the transmission--just behind the shift tower and check for fluid. I bet that it will be all wet.

The common source of leakage on the Mazda transmission are the three plastic plugs that face towards the rear of the vehicle and are just to the rear of the shifter. These plugs are on the top shifter housing that is easily removed.

It isnt hard to remove these plugs and replace them--you can still get them from Ford.they cost just a couple of dollars. Just tell the Ford parts guy that your Mazda transmission is leaking and he will have the three plugs in stock--and he will know what you are talking about.Very common problem--and probably the largest reason for these trannys to fail. There is a good write up on these on this site--under "Articles/Specs"-the top left on this page.

Take a look at these transmissions on www.google.com--search the images section-- under "M5OD" or" M52R transmission" and you will see several pictures of the shift tower of these transmissions--and the three plastic plugs arranged in a row facing towards the rear --just behind the shifter. These plugs are about the diameter of a dime.