Question on transmission front seal replacement

[ASJT3]

2007 Tahoe 5.3L with 4L60e trans, 197000 miles. I was driving the truck on the highway and hit the throttle very hard to make a merge, when all of the sudden blue smoke starts pouring out the back. Pull over and find trans fluid dripping very steadily from the bellhousing all over the exhaust crossover pipe.

I'm going to have to pull the trans to replace the front seal (apparently also called torque converter seal). I have read that in addition to just normal wear this could be caused by a spun pump bushing, or that the bushing may have shifted forward cutting off lubrication and thus cooling to the seal. I wonder if lots of highway driving at 80mph on 3.73 gears may also have contributed.

A few questions for anyone with perspective/experience with this issue:

1) is it easy to check whether the pump bushing has spun/shifted? Is it just a visual inspection once the seal is removed?

2) How hard is it to replace the pump bushing, do you need to remove the front pump plate or can this be done external to the trans as you can for the front seal?

3) Rockauto has the bronze, Babbitt, and teflon bushings for this application. Does anyone know which one I should choose?

4) Other than prodigious leaking, the trans drove and shifted fine. Is it worth it to replace the pump bushing? (Probably depends on whether and the degree to which the bushing shifted but thought I would ask for perspective).

Much thanks,

Alex

[maxwedge]

At that mileage, The minimum I would do is replace the pump assembly, complete. Check the torque converter hub for wear where the bushing rides.