Interesting Oil Leak

[Stevevo]

I had what I though was rear mail leak and changed it 2 times and it still leaked. I have a V8 5.2 and it turned out to be the sending unit for oil pressure and is in back and hard to get to and you need a mirror to see it. I changed that and it stopped leaking. I took the old sender and hooked up air pressure at 40# and put under water and it leaked bad.

 

[Dave in Eugene]

The pix of that pug trans looks about like mine. '87 with 220K and that's the only thing that leaks. Really seems to be oozing out all over, typical eurocrap. The square socket in the plugs is just under 3/8" wouldn't you know, and whoever put them in last put them in way too tight. To make a tool I took a 7/16" hex bolt out of the junk bin, sawed the shank down to about 1/2" long then ground it to the correct size square with a bench grinder. Stick the sawed off bolt in a socket and the plugs zip right out (well, the first time you probably need a 1/2" breaker bar and a cheater - don't know why so many people insist on overtightening stuff).

The grey in the clay colored oil is metal, and maybe some water. ATF might help clean it out some I dunno, but it's not going to stop wear that is already underway. When I first drained the crap out of mine I refilled with Supertech 80W90 from the Megalomart. It was really tough to shift with that so I replaced it with Chevron RPM 50W synthetic gear oil. That has been in for a year and the shifting performace has been so-so.

I hear that Peugeot called for 30W engine oil in a lot of their transmissions of that vintage, I might try that later this spring when I change it out. Sure couldn't hurt.