***IMPORTANT NOTE about plugged/improper breathers and leaking tranny fluid at the bottom***

If you think that your tranny is fairly waterproof on your TJ, you haven't looked at your tranny fluid!

This was drained *hot* (shown after it settled for a week or so) right after  Bonita Springs 02/12/2000

This was from my friend Jay's YJ, he was on the same trip, but ran it until 2/26/2000.
( I don't think he will be doing that again!)
*note - 2000 6-cyl. TJ's have a "HD" manual tranny, it is different from the previous units.
(It shifts smoother, takes synthetic, and has this one little problem.....)
 

I thought that the water was entering where the shifter attaches to the tranny, but that has a nice bootie...
 

Ah-Ha! here is the culprit, an ordinary breather vent!
Why Chrysler went to the effort on the diffs (glad they did) on TJ's, but not on the transmission is a mystery!

Hint #1:  If you turn it 8 bazillion times and it doesn't seem to come out, IT AIN'T THREADED...
(that's where the prybar and hammer come in, I used the prybar as a punch to reach around everything and get a shot at tapping the bugger out.

A few shots showing the 'barbs' that hold it in... (Yes, the marks around the body are from the vise grips, but the crushed top is from the factory, that is how they get the cap to remain 'captive' and still be loose.... very high-tech.)

Pics showing the cap removed....

The next step requires safety glasses... uh-oh!

hmmm, I don't have a lathe (yet), we'll just have to chuck it in the DeWalt and grind it down to accept a hose!

It looks OK here, but it wasn't too secure, and then......

I notice another breather line, it turns out to be the transfer case, but it doesn't even go above the bellhousing!

hmmm, I see nothing wrong with the two sharing a breather line!

The "Y" fitting kept the hose flexed, and I was afraid that it would come off the breather thingy, so i went and got a true "T"

here is the new location, and a shot of the stock breather for the front diff...

The breather in the center pic should NOT be used for both devices, it plugged on mine and mad a lot of tranny fluid go out the top of the tranny where the shifter boot is... it was NOT pretty... I am lucky I didn't smoke my nice NV3550 tranny!