Gear oil seepage from seam between clutch housing and flywheel housing

I recently put UV dye in my gearbox oil and determined that gearbox oil is seeping from the seam between the clutch housing (part 116377) and the flywheel housing (Intermediate body, part 118687). It is a slow stable seep.

I have never disassembled these parts (my clutch is relatively new and changed shortly before I purchased the car). How difficult would it be to disassemble these parts for the sole purpose of redoing the RTV seal between these two parts? The Parts Catalog does not show a gasket for between these two mating surfaces.

My understanding that there are no shaft seals between the gearbox and transfer gears and gear oil can flow freely between one and the other through passageways, so the issue is just an RTV issue; not any sort of shaft seal issue. Is this correct?

 

Good to know. Thanks.

The oil is glowing brightly under UV light so is definitely gear oil. (As a way to confirm, I also have a minor shifter shaft seal leak and that oil was not glowing.)

I drove the car with the UV dye in the gearbox, saw seepage, wiped down all the housings again under UV light to remove traces of leakage and drove the car again. It certainly looked like that seam, but you make a good point to triple check that it is not leaking from somewhere higher, but I don't think so. That seam IS a good place for oil to collect.

Its within tolerances of a drippy old car. It leaks enough that I top up the gearbox at the 6 month point between annual gear oil changes.

 

I looked at your thread. Some nice clear photos. Thank you.

I reconfirmed last night that the gear oil leakage is coming from the seam between the clutch housing and the flywheel housing. If it is extremely unusual for it to leak there, I shudder to see what the mating surfaces look like. Hopefully its just botched RTV application by the (factory trained!) tech who replaced the clutch, pilot bearing and rear main seal in 2011.

Does gear oil flow between the main gearbox and the assembly containing the 3 drop gears? I have read it does, but there are separate fill/drain plugs for both assemblies and I would hate to have the drop gears run dry because of my leak.

Likewise (if they interconnect), is there harm in overfilling the gearbox by, say, 1 quart using upper most plug on the drop gear housing? I am wondering if being overfull might be better than under full.

Interestingly, the first time I changed the gear oil (2013) I was caught off guard when I opened the top plug on the main gearbox housing and had at least a half a quart of oil gush out. I thought it was a blown inner shifter shaft seal, but it has never happened again when I've refilled the system per Owner's Manual directions. The system probably was overfilled.