can anyone help identify leaking unit?

[clintnovaclaw]

Hello, I own a 96 SOHC neon and very recently it started oil leaking from the bottom. THere is a bright grey cylindrical (pump?) with a blue gasket that is directly behind the oil pan. Can I post a picture to this forum of the leaking unit?
Can anyone identify this part and is it easy to fix? Thanks in advance.

[clintnovaclaw]

I posted the picture of the leaking unit here:

ftp://216.39.33.113/neon.jpg

the large black rusty tank on the right is the oil pan, the left bar is the front wheel strut.

thanks again.

[denisond3]

That aluminum casting is called the extension housing. It is part of the automatic transmission (transaxle) , and has an oil seal for the axle shaft (thats the blue I believe) plus a bushing inside it to support the inner end of the axle shaft, as well as supporting one of the differential carrier bearings at its inner end. On top it has the the 'socket' for the vehicle speed sensor assembly. Its very unusual for one transmission seal to go bad by itself. Mostly you find them all going bad together. This can happen from very high mileage, or more possibly from something that contaminated the tranny fluid - motor oil for instance. If its the axle shaft seal that is leaking, its a fairly involved job to replace it. You have to remove the axle shaft - which requires dismantling the passenger side hub and suspension.
You should try to make sure where the leak is. If you are lucky it might be leaking from the vehicle speed sensor. This has an o-ring oil seal, that comes out when you remove the little driven gear. It might have been left out if you had work done on the vehicle speed sensor recently.
If you had the axle-shaft out recently to replace the CV joint boot - the seal might have gotten damaged in the process.
Usually when a transmission starts to leak copiously from one of its seals, the next thing needed is to remove the tranny and get it rebuilt. If the leak is really from that seal, that is what I would probably do, under the assumption that whatever caused the obvious leak, will have affected the other seals and the many rubber O-rings and grommets inside the tranny.
I cant think of any circumstance that would cause me to unbolt the extension housing from the tranny either. Thats something you would do during the rebuilding process.
If you snoop around in the 1st gen. subforum, in the FAQ and the older postings, you will find out much about the usual Neon oil leaks. Make sure it isnt one of the other things leaking - engine head, main seal, oil pressure switch, cam position sensor, rocker cover gasket, oil pan gasket. Some of these are Much easier to fix.