NP231 Leaking... Help

I noticed a small puddle of ATF under my Jeep a few times over the past week and a half, it was dripping off my tc skid. I pulled the skid the other day when doing some front axle work to make the removal of the front ds easier.

When I did the underside of the skid was soaked in ATF. There was also a piece of black plastic/rubber that appeared to be broken; shape wise whatever it came from was round with a hole in the center, some sort of seal, gasket, etc. I'll get a pic when I get home tonight.

Anyone know what that piece likely is? Where it came from? How hard it is to replace?

Thanks

Pics as promised

Nobody sure on what that seal is from?

Is it an output shaft seal?? It is hard to tell.

yeah, your pics are pretty bad. just tear the TC off an take a look.

kentuckytwostep said:

yeah, your pics are pretty bad. just tear the TC off an take a look.

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I'd rather not tear the tc off if I can avoid it.

I'm thinking its the rear output seal after doing some more searching.

I have the same problem except my rear seal is still in its place. I think I have some dirt working its way into the edge of the seal. It's an intermittent problem. Usually once I wipe off the slip yoke and the seal it will quite leaking. Living on a dirt road though makes it hard to keep the dirt from gathering on the slip yoke.

that pic does not look like an output seal

Jess said:

that pic does not look like an output seal

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then what does it look like?

It's pretty blurry to make out what material it's made of but the silvery sheen in the first picture reminds me of the exhaust header to downpipe cone shaped gasket thing. does it have a taper to it or is it straight?

sjkimmel99 said:

It's pretty blurry to make out what material it's made of but the silvery sheen in the first picture reminds me of the exhaust header to downpipe cone shaped gasket thing. does it have a taper to it or is it straight?

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I think the silvery sheen is probably just the flash or shop lights reflecting off the oily plastic. I know the exhaust 'donut' your talking about and it's made of metal, this definately looks like a rubber part. Plus, if part of the 'donut' had fallen out he'd be complaining of a loud exhaust, not a leaky t-case!

anyways, I would say that you recovered part of either the front or rear output seal..how it got so mangled and tore in half is beyond me, but stranger things have happened. Luckily, you don't need to drop the t-case or anything silly to do the work, it's just a quick, simple job (and only a 10 dollar part!). There are many write-ups around, but this one is probably the best: http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoTCseal.htm
My rear output seal has been leaking for the last year or two but I just keep topping it up every oil change. I actually have the seal sitting in my parts box but I can't be bothered to replace it since i'm so lazy..somehow I convinced myself it's easier to just top up the fluid, go figure.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to really look this weekend and see what it is, I'm hoping for the rear output seal due to the ease.

I may just buy a new case, I sourced a recently rebuilt NP231 locally for $150. New chain, new seals, etc.