superdave84

I tracked down my trans leak to the rear of the yoke. (4L60e, 2000 Camaro, fresh rebuild) There is no weep hole in it, but apparently it's old enough that microscopic cracks have added up...or something.

I bought a brand new yoke, and it definitely has the weep hole. It's my understanding that trucks have the weep hole, and cars generally do not, because of different suspension travel and driveshaft slippage in/out.

If I put the new yoke in as is, it will CERTAINLY leak, so tomorrow I am going to open up the back of the trans and see if the yoke seal is out of alignment, or perhaps missing.

While researching, I came across info that says that TRUCK transmissions have a "yoke seal/cup" and an o-ring to seal fluid off from the area between output shaft and yoke....and on CARS, this cup/seal thing is not present.

The following picture shows the thing I am talking about:


The "cup" shaped cylinder with the tiniest hint of rust or discoloration is what I am talking about.

MY QUESTION: If I open up the trans and this is missing, should I buy one and try to put it on there? Or should I weld up the weep hole and allow the yoke itself to contain the fluid?

lsxRanger94

Did your old yoke have a groove worn in it or worn excessively where the seal rides? If so, you can get a saver seal. It has a sleeve and a Thin piece of metal that drives over the yoke to have a new surface. Running a vented yoke on a non-vented designed trans will make a mess. There is a solution to that too. There are companies that make a piece of metal with a rubber disc in the center that goes on the inside of the yoke to keep it from leaking. Never used one before, so I couldn't tell you how it works. I know the seal saver works if you can't afford a new yoke or one is no longer available.

superdave84

No there's no wear at all that can be noticed on the old yoke. Shaft was shiny without a mark on it. The bad spot was at the rear of the yoke, in the same place a weep hole would be. There's got to be microscopic cracks that had developed over the years (this yoke is probably from the 700R4 era)

the new yoke has a weep hole in the same spot, which, if I install as-is, will probably shoot my expensive ATF out like a Super Soaker. I need to either address the internal issue (if there is one) or weld up the weep hole.

So is the info I found correct? That cars do not have the internal cup and o-ring, and instead the yoke itself seals in the ATF?

lsxRanger94

you are correct. Cars typically have a fully splined yoke(no o-ring and non vented) and trucks have a counter bored yoke that slides over o-ring and are vented(weep hole) on the end.

superdave84

thank you thank you thank you! You saved me so much time and work my friend.

kwhizz

Dave...........This site is awsum......The amount of knowledge here is invaluable........Glad it got solved the easy way.........

Ken

superdave84

Ha! You got that right. You don't know how many times your build threads have saved me.