Transmission output cone - leaking

Hi everyone

My son has a 1988 cherokee that has developed a leak at transmission output shaft.

I thought it might be the rear seal, but it appears to be where the "shaft cone" meets the transmission itself.

I've replaced transmission drive shaft seals before, not that hard to do.

Not really sure about the cone, it appears to be held on by 3 or 4 bolts, and it looks like some gasket material is popped out.

Does it simply upbolt? Is there actually a gasket, or it is just RTV? Anything I might run into that will be a problem?

Thanks in advance to any suggestions

are you talking about on the transfer case? where the rear driveshaft mates up?

if so...then no, you cant just take those bolts off. i believe there are some snap-rings that you have to take off, plus the outer seal. make sure its leaking from the "cone" and not from the outer seal (where the driveshaft attaches). sometimes that will leak down. that seal is a lot easier to replace than taking the whole cone off.

and yes, its just RTV. there's no cork or rubber gasket there.

EDIT: i hope i'm semi-right on this...its been a while since i did the SYE on my transfer case...trying to remember exactly what we had to take off to get that "cone" off.

the tail-cone is only held by the 3 bolts..... it only houses a support bearing for the slip yoke. RTV on the mating surfaces, and replace the output seal while its apart. if the slip yoke have up/down movement in it you might want to replace the bearing inside as well.

Thanks for the info

I'm pretty sure it's leaking from the cone. I've wiped it off and it looks like it's leaking from the cone and the RTV is hanging out. It doesn't appear to be from the seal.

I figure we'll pull the drive shaft, replace the u-joints, pull the cone, replace the bearing and the seal, all at the same time.

Won't have to worry about any of it later.

Thanks again