Hey all,

What an AWESOME site, I wish I knew about it earlier. I am new to this site and don't know if I posted this right or not. Hopefully I did. I have an early 99 superduty with the 7.3, 6 speed and my transmission is leaking (dripping) from the front behind the plate. My clutch is also slipping. I've ordered a new clutch but don't know much about the leak. I think it is the front seal, is this hard to replace? Should I replace with ford front seal? Truck has 93K on it, I've heard that some aftermarket seals for this tranny last alot longer than the stock ones. Any input would be appreciated, Thanks!

 

Really quick, are you sure it's trans fluid or oil? I had a fuel leak down the back of the block and cause the clutch to slip at one point...

 

yes, make sure it is fluid and not engine oil. you may have a leaky turbo pedestal seal, which usually shoots oil rearwards at the firewall. right below the pedestal is the transmission. reach or look up and see if either or both sides of the transmission housing is wet or soppy with oil. also, check to see the color of the oil.

 

The six speed uses ATF as transmission oil. I recommend checking the fluid level at the filler plug on the side of the transmission. There has been mention of a failed pilot bearing ruining the mainshaft seal, and in extreme cases, the whole transmission when the pilot bearing fails.
If the fluid level is right up to the bottom of the hole then the possibility of a leak is pretty remote. If it's down a little, for instance, about 1/4" or more then I would say you have a bad seal.

 

The leaking fluid is red. The whole bottom of the bell housing is wet. The fluid level is a little low(about a quart). I thought I just had a slipping clutch until I looked under there. Also, is there anything else not to expencive that I should replace while we have the tranny down?

 

Fat diesel,

Tell me a little about your mods. I have a superchips tuner and a k&n air filter, I want to do more. Which mods were the best or what do you recommend? I have the early 99.

 

It sounds like your input shaft seal is leaking and allowing the trans fluid to get into the bellhousing, soaking your clutch. I don't know if you can easily replace the input shaft, without having to deal with the normal rigors of a ZF-6 rebuild.

I'd say the most important mods I've done are (in order of importance):

Gauges. Pyro, Boost.
DP Tuner chip and switch. The best in the business.
Exhaust system.
Intake, NAPA 6637.
ITP Fuel System with Dahl filter.
LUK Clutch with Kevlar Pilot Bushing.
Ill include the in-tank mods in this group.


Other more superficial mods include:

Trans Temp Gauge for Six Speed.
Water Temp Gauge.
Fuel Pressure Gauge.
CCV Mod.
Painless Wiring fuse block with relay and leads under the dash.
Ground Bus Bar right next to fuse block.
Cheasy fuse block installed behind right rear tailight.
Several high amp fuse blocks under hood by batteries (Optimas).
On Board air compressor.
Home-Made Headache Rack.
Home-Made toolbox bracketry.
Front Hitch (Hidden Hitch).
Pioneer 12 Inch Subwoofer behind back seat.
Sony Xplod amp under back seat.
Coolant Filter.


And uh... um... that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Oh yeah a wish list would look like this:

Big Oil.
Big Turbo.
Big Injectors.
Big Lift.
Big Tires...

Spend about three days reading through every post on this forum and you'll start recognizing virtually all the things I have listed. You can also take a look through my gallery and see some of the stuff as well.

LONG LIVE THE EARLY 99

 

You just had to go there "REBUILD" haha. I hope not. We're are gonna start working on it tomorrow night, I guess we'll find out then. I'll post what we found out as we go. Good gosh man, there almost was'nt enough room for all those mods. I only posted the performance mods. I've done a few things for appearance too. I installed a 6" skyjacker lift with 20" Mazzi wheels and 37" Toyo open country M/t's. I changed out the headlights to all clear headlights and side markers, Put in a Stull billet grill, Added a foglight kit, Chrome tow hooks, and I think that's it, for now. I'm getting ready to dump some mod money into a clutch and possibly (hopefully not) a tranny rebuild.

 

dropped tranny today. bad pilot bearing, scored shaft.

 

How bad is it? There's a teflon bushing that you can get in place of the pilot bearing.

 

I'd recommend polishing the input shaft a little where it rides on the bushing you're going to put in. Any rough spots would likely chew into the kevlar. Maybe some 1000 grit sandpaper and then a little metal polish.

Were you able to pull the bearing retainer and replace that seal that leaked?

 

I showed it to a couple of people today that know a whole lot more about it than I do and they said it did'nt look to bad. The clutch that I ordered comes with a brass bushing because of problems with the stock pilot bearing. What do you guys think about that? I have not been able to replace the seal yet but will before I put tranny back up. Should I use factory replacement seal or aftermarket?

 

As long as it's a porous brass similar to a starter bushing or an electric motor bushing I would think that would be a great idea. You have to soak those in oil for a day to get them properly primed. Stick them in dry and they will sieze. If it is solid brass, throw it away. It has no way of holding any lubricant.

 

Kwik, what do you think about that kevlar bushing? Other people that I have asked about it, that have never heard of it, say "plastic", I don't know if I would do that.

 

I've never installed a kevlar bushing as a pilot bearing before. Not because I've had trouble with them in the past, but because I've never had any access to one when I am ordering parts for a job. I would not be afraid to try one out as long as it doesn't wear out too fast.
With that said, you also have a chewed up pilot shaft and the bushing may be the best option for you now.