(Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

[Vanquish]

I was just curious if anyone knew where exactly the transmission seal is located on the tranny in this car, and how hard is it to change?

My mother just moved back from Florida and she gave me this car, because she has other vehicles and says she doesn't want it or have any use for it since it has a problem with it (the transmission seal).

The great part about it is, she lived in the city of Tampa so everything was within a miles distance(and sometimes not even that far) from where she lived in the city, so it's an 89, original motor, and it only has 52k miles on it. How sweet is that? Interior is almost flawless, but I'm going to change it out, because it's leather and I hate leather, My LHS had leather and so did my Infiniti and summer time is coming so you know what that equals (leather seats + hot weather = you sticking to the seats and burning your skin :( )

But anyways, it's a sweet deal, I just need to get this transmission seal changed out, so any help would be greatly appreciated. And if no one can answer, maybe they could send me to a forum or website that may have more information on the subject and problem.

Thanks in advance,
Justin

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

I still haven't found any forums that talk about older cadillac's, or anyone that has any information on them. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places..

Any help on a link or something would be greatly appreciated.

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

Ok, next question. Where is the transmission seal located on an f-body.

Is it just a seal that is located right underneath the transmission cover, where you would remove it to drain your tranny fluid?

The reason I ask, is because I need to find where this thing is, because it is leaking tranny fluid like crazy. I could fill the tranny fluid to the top and after a 20 minute ride, it needs more tranny fluid. I talked with my cousin who is a great mechanic and he told me it was the seal, but it would cost like $700 to fix it at a shop.......so I said f that.

Tomorrow when there is some daylight, I'm going to start looking around the tranny and see if I can find a place where it could have possibly been leaking from, but it may be hard to tell because the car hasn't been driven in almost 2 years.......so hopefully the tranny fluid left a residue where it was leaking and hasn't washed away or anything.

[nascar24jd]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

There are many seals. The main ones are the front seal and the rear (yoke) seal. To change the front seal you need to remove the transmission. To change the rear seal you need to remove the driveshaft. You need to get under there and see where it is leaking from (front, rear, middle, bottom, etc.)

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

Oh yay, fun.

I don't mess with trannies all that often. I'm more of an engine guy. If someone could get me a picture of what these seals look like that would be greatly appreciated.

Me going to try and fix a tranny is like running into combat blind.

[stlunatics2oo3]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

a caddy trans the seals should be where the half shafts go in. that is if the car is fwd i don't know caddys to well but i know all front wheel drive cars the seals are where the half shafts go into the tranny.

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

Yeah, it's a fwd. a v8 fwd.......talk about no space in the engine bay....but that's another story.

Now that I know where to look, I just don't know what I'm looking for. Is it a gasket of some sort?

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

Ok, when I mention the tranny seal......and say it's the one up front.............we are talking about the rear main seal right? Isn't that a little tedious and hard to do?

I hope I have the right tools to do it. (crosses fingers) I hope it's the seal at the back of the tranny where the drive shaft goes into.

[black98V6]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

ok it' s a fwd car and the trans is leaking, could be the pan, where the cv joints come out or where the trans meets the engine (front seal). I'd be willing to bet on that car all of those are a PITA to change. If it's the front seal I'd bet it's easier to pull the engine than the trans.

More than likely the best way to get to it would be to do what some do on our cars to pull the engine and that is to pull it from underneath as one unit. then separate the trans and engine.

If it's the half shafts taking off the wheels may be the toughest part but most of the time those things are in there in a way that SOMETHING always is in the way of them sliding out easily. If the bottom is coated with trans fluid the first thing you need to do is track down the leak and that's going to take cleaning the underside and driving it to find the leak.

if you want to do this yourself my advice would be get a subscription to www.alldata.com and look it up in the service manual. Also see if there was a TSB on the problem, it might give you a place to start.

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

First off, I don't have the accessibility/tools to pull the engine and the tranny and second of all, what is a TBS?

As much as I hate using them for more than a drink coaster, do you think a Haynes or Chilton's manual might have some helpful information on how to change them?

[badinfluenceRS]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

yes...a haynes would at least get you a better idea of what seals are there and how to change them...

I've replaced a CV boot on a FWD toyota...if it's just the seal where the 1/2 axle goes into the trans, then it should be easy...if not...i have no idea.

Take it to the power washer and track down the leak

[Vanquish]

Re: (Other Rides) '89 Cadillac Seville

That's my problem.......after my mother brought it here to me from Florida I had it put in a mini-storage for the past year. I would need a lot of tranny fluid to make it to a pressure washer because I live 20 miles outside of the city, so it's a good little drive to the nearest pressure washer..........but I will figure something out.