bgoetz

The helms shows that you can replace the seal with the motor in place, so all you should need to do is drop the tranny, remove the clutch and flywheel, remove the old seal, and then put the new one in.

slipstream444

Before you rip your trans out (forgive me because I skim read) - let me ask you this: did you recently have your oil changed?
The reason I asked is I accidentally spilled a half a quart when changing oil one time (my second oil change) and it slowly leaked down to the exact point over time. Some if it came down immediately (obviously - gravity is on), but I kept getting the same amount of oil over time - which almost conviced me I had an oil leak. If you took it somewhere for an oil change and they spilled a lot of oil, it will look like that until all the oil works it way to the point you showed in your picture.

A rear main seal will also leak down to that point, and the only way to see if it's leaking is to pull the trans, PP and flywheel. However, that will not necessariy cause clutch slippage Due to the fact the oil will not always make itself to the friction face of the flywheel - as in the flywheel will block oil seepage. A trans input shaft seal leak can cause slippage though. The trans fluid is a 5W30 weight oil, but does have a very slight gear oil smell (not nearly as strong as diff gear oil though).

Go with simple to complex (you have nothing to loose at this point). Pull the spark plug cover to see if there's excessive oil around the back of the valve cover. If there is, get a bunch of rags and get under your car and go to work wiping oil off the side and back of the motor (PITA) and the top and side of the trans bell housing. This will still not get all the spilled motor oil off, but you will notice much less oil at the bottom of the trans if spilled oil is the cause.
If not - you have a leaking seal.

SpitfireS

After looking at those pics again, especially the third one, slipstream444 (AND jyeung528 )could be spot-on
Is the oil all the way up there, as high as the trans bar-code sticker and higher up?

jyeung528

i called spilled oil first!

S2K_2003

hmm u know they did change the oil right before i bought it, i will chech it soon as it is not cold as hell here

S2Kage

check engine oil, and check around the base of the filter. I once used a K&N oil filter and at 4k miles it disintegrated and started leaking like a siv... very randomly too.

Stook3

Did you ever find out what the issue was?

Chuck S

OP hasn't been here in nearly 10 years...

-- Chuck