The subject line isn't about my wife - she doesn't actually weep when I leave! It is my truck that weeps for me . The Situation My truck ('54 GMC 1/2 ton long bed with hydra-matic) weeps tranny fluid when it is parked leaving a small puddle of ATF on my garage floor. Being a long bed - my truck has a two-piece driveshaft with one u-joint ball housing on the end of the tranny followed by short driveshaft to a second u-joint in its own ball housing and a "center bearing" which is followed by the main torque tube unit. I have attached the diagram from the "Maintenance Manual". My driveshaft is the lower one in the diagram (model 102-22). On the diagram below, I have marked what I believe to be the leaking joint with red ink - packing seal #14 on the forward torque ball (the same packing/seal is called out on the main shaft at the "packing retainer" which I marked in blue ink on this diagram). Note there is no packing retainer (#13) on the front seal in question - I'm guessing this is because, unlike the rear joint on the main torque tube, the front joint isn't stressed by movement? My Diagnosis I am 99% positive (ok 90% positive) that the source of the leak is (surprisingly) only the "packing" in the rear end of the forward u-joint housing ball (the housing ball attached to the tranny - not the housing ball attached to the torque tube) marked in red on the diagram. There is no sign of fluid coming out of either of the ball collars (they are both is bone dry) nor does there appear to be fluid coming out of the shimming (paper gaskets) under the ball collars. I do not find any fluid coming out of the "front shaft housing" (#20 on the diagram) either - but I only find ATF around the packing marked in red on the diagram. The rear packing seal marked in blue is not leaking at all. Note - I have no signs of leaking ATF into the differential - the bushings in the torque tube appear to be doing ok - my differential is not overfull and I am not losing a measurable amount of ATF from the tranny (just enough to mark my garage floor). So - no Okie Bushing needed at this time from what I can see. The truck also appears not to be losing ATF when running down the road: no signs of ATF underneath the bed or behind the area where I have located the leak. It looks like it simply weeps out when stationary (I am guessing it pools in the front shaft housing/front ball collar when parked and then weeps past the seal). My Questions So (beyond what I don't know to ask) - here is where I am looking for some advice from you all ;-) : I have (2) "U-joint ball gasket & seal" kits and I believe the smaller diameter cork seal therein is the "packing" I am looking to repair/replace (#14) - am I right? (I know the larger cork seal is for the ball collar). Is there a modern rubber o-ring that would be preferable or is this cork seal the way to go for packing #14 in the diagram? To gain access to the leaking packing seal on the front drive shaft - the maintenance manual has me disconnecting the rear u-joint and dropping the torque tube and then removing the center bearing support #21 (the whole unit including the front drive shaft) - leaving the front ball collar in place. I have a dumb question on this one: isn't the center bearing support holding the weight of the tranny? Don't I need to jack up the tranny to hold its weight or do the bell housing mounts suspend the tranny in mid-air when removing the center bearing support? The manual says nothing about this...it reads as though you just unbolt the center bearing support and slide out of the front ball housing with front drive shaft. (I guess I'd find out the hard way anyway - but thought I'd ask while I was here). Not that I want to do this (the truck is too nice to start doing hacks ) - but...couldn't I get away with just smearing some kind of sealant on the outside of the back edge of the front ball housing where it leaks? I don't think there is any movement at the leaking seal except during assembly / disassembly and the leak is not a pressure leak - just a weep past what I am guessing is a shrunken cork or felt seal... Just curious if you think this would do the trick in light of the situation... Looking forward to your guidance/insights/comments - I hope to get this "weeping" under control next week! Thanks everyone! Roland
Roland: I hate to send you somewhere else for an answer, but I think you'll find a lot more expertise on this problem over on the OldGMCtrucks web site. There are a number of members there with '52-'55.1 102 Hydra-Matics. You'll have to go through the web site sign up. Login To: OldGMCtrucks.com Discussion Boards
So I have this old timer friend who has been building Ford hot rods with flatheads in them for almost 50 years. Similar torque tube/ball setup and he strongly suggested to me to use rope seal packing in the ball on the Ford hot rod I'm building even though originally they were cork. Took me a couple of orders from McMaster-Carr to get the correct thickness, but it works real well, much better than cork. Andy
Have a little time? Want to try something a little different? Do you truly think in the true 40's, 50's, old style...on the cheap and in the boondocks style...Try leather....yes leather...if you really want to try something ...try a cord of leather with cut ends as stuffing. I seem to remember that is what I did for my '48 maybe 40 years ago and it weeps slightly if I am on a 1000 mile journey, but after that many years I might consider re-doing it. My family keeps telling me that things don't last forever! Actually, I use leather for lots of odd things that come up. rod
I was going to suggest leather too but I was beaten to it . My '46 3100's Torque Tube ball had a leather seal in it when I bought it in 1976 ,I carefully cleaned it up , shimmed the ball and no leaks .
leather is super on these viejos...I think I even found the spring grease seals with leather...so that is what I did. They pack in there, absorb the initial oil trying to make it through and then seal themselves. I find it great stuff.
