Leak in front of transmission pan on '96 K3500 6.5L 4x4

[Angelo]

Seems like a leak coming from between oil pan and transmission pan but I can't identify what this piece is. What's flowing out seems to be oil or transmission fluid or front differential? It is visible in pics. The bolt on this piece was totally loose when I crawled under a few weeks ago but there wasn't a prominent leak. Hopefully the pictures show where it's coming from and I circled the bolt which was loose on the piece.
The truck is a 1996 K3500 automatic 6.5L and 4x4

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[jdla140]

That bolt you circled holds on the trans dust shield, once you remove that you can see the torque converter and flexplate. The leak could be the trans input seal if it's trans fluid, or the rear main seal if it's oil. 6.5's also have a drain in the valley of the engine that goes into the bellhousing, so that leak could be just about anything. Oil pump drive leaking, IP leaking, FFM, intake manifold, valve covers, etc, there's a lot of stuff on top of the engine that can cause leaks like that on a 6.5. We'd need better pics to make an informed guess at all.

 

[Angelo]

That bolt you circled holds on the trans dust shield, once you remove that you can see the torque converter and flexplate. The leak could be the trans input seal if it's trans fluid, or the rear main seal if it's oil. 6.5's also have a drain in the valley of the engine that goes into the bellhousing, so that leak could be just about anything. Oil pump drive leaking, IP leaking, FFM, intake manifold, valve covers, etc, there's a lot of stuff on top of the engine that can cause leaks like that on a 6.5. We'd need better pics to make an informed guess at all.

Seems like removing the dust cover might reveal further where it's coming from? It is an automatic trans if that helps eliminate some of those potential causes.

 

[Schurkey]

Seems like removing the dust cover might reveal further where it's coming from?

Yes. A car-wash pressure cleaning of "everything" may be a good idea as well. Once everything is clean of oil slime and dirt, drive it a while. After that, a dusting of baby powder works reasonably well to follow the leak path back to the source.

It is an automatic trans if that helps eliminate some of those potential causes.

No.

 

[Angelo]

Yes. A car-wash pressure cleaning of "everything" may be a good idea as well. Once everything is clean of oil slime and dirt, drive it a while. After that, a dusting of baby powder works reasonably well to follow the leak path back to the source.

Wash/clean with dust cover off as well? I don't see any kind of fluid looking in from the top of engine. I'll take it to wash tonight.

It looks like it's only coming from inside the dust cover down there. I'm pretty sure this is trans fluid after taking second look. It's red and black, and the trans fluid level is a little low, oil is not low

I said it's an automatic because I only see "input shaft seal" for a manual trans but I could be wrong.

 

[delta_p]

I had a oil leak like that on my C1500. Thought it was the rear oil seal but after I removed the transmission and looked, I thought it was the pan gasket. I replaced both, and haven't had a leak since.