Just changed my trans fluid on my 91Z, tightened all the bolts and it is dripping a little (not much, just a few drops). Retightened
all the bolts again. Ran it around town, came back and it is still dripping a few drops. Whats the deal?

 

I thought I was going crazy! I too am having the exact same problem! It is driving me nuts!!!! I have changed my gasket 3X and I'm about ready to ...... barf! Mine is leaking from the front passengers side corner. Any I deas of how to solve this problem? I have been thinking of using some silicone but you must be really careful because it can mess up the tranny if it gets into the oil. Keep me posted cuz i need to fix this too!!!!!

 

Don't use silicone. ATF turns it to mush and it ends up where you don't want it to go.

Couple of ideas: first, over time the tightened bolts will make a depression around each bolt hole, so clamping load is pretty much zip. Pop off the pan and use a hammer and a backing plate of steel to make the area around each bolt hole flat again. Second, try load spreaders like the type used on older style valve covers.

 

Load spreaders are the way to go......or a new (high-capacity) pan if you're ambitious.

 

I have the high-capacity oil pan. What is a load spreader?

 

Load spreader is just sort of a bar of metal, sometimes slightly curved, with a hole in the center, which is used like a washer to distribute the pressure of the bolts across the entire sealing surface of the pan, instead of just around the bolt holes.

A stamped steel pan will distort slightly every time you torque it down onto the tranny, so the more times you change the gasket the worse the problem will become. Thats why I like cast aluminum tranny pans. Also cuz they dissipate heat better.

Of course you could always swap in a T-56 like me and not even HAVE a tranny pan

 

I can't find a load spreader for the life of me for my 700r4! I was thinking of putting a bead of rtv black on the gasket in the area wher it is leaking and then bolting it up, letting it dry and then filling it? Any ideas how to stop this thing from leaking? It's leaking just a little bit, but it is still leaking and i need to fix it!

H E L P

 

Tranny pan load spreaders aren't exactly anything you can buy. Gotta make 'em yourself (or find somethin that'll fit).

And don't use RTV of any kind.....like angel said the tranny fluid will eat it away and it could get into the internals and burn somethin up. You'd be better off lettin it leak and keepin it full.

 

I placed a new gasket, tightened them up using the criss cross method (left side/right side & every other bolt) and added lock tight washers and it seems fine now.

 

Ok today, i purchased the 3m yellow sealant for my tranny pan gasket. It's really sicky stuff! STILL LEAKS, just a few drips when I'm parked in the garage, maybe two spots the size of a quarter. But i need to fix it! There are a series of bolts at the end of the tramsmission that sit behind the torque converter. I think it may be comming from a bolt on the bottom of this area. What are these bolts for? I was thinking of draining the tranny....again, then backing out the bolt that i suspect and putting some hi temp rtv black on the bolt. Then screw it back in and let it dry before refilling? But I don't know what the bolt is for and would hate to mess up my new tranny! Any help on this issue would be greatly appricated!

 

It might be coming from somewhere else like the front seal. If those bolts are in a circular pattern, they are the front pump bolts. I think they go into blind holes, so there shouldn't be any ATF on them unless your casting is cracked. Better it be the seal than that.

 

I went through a problem with a leaking pan gasket one time and changed it a few times, without fixing the leak and it was pretty much the same spot as yours. Driver side right in the left front corner. It turned out it was leaking from the linkage seal, where the shifter hooks into the tranny. Usually when it leaks from there it will leave a few tiny drops but only after you've driven it and let it sit for a while. Also some manufactures use silicone from the factory to seal transmissions like chrysler, in fact the brand new dodges don't even have pan gaskets any more and one insn't in productions yet, so you have to use silicone. In my opinion silicone is the best gasket you can have as long as it's a good silicone like permatex, the only reason I prefer to not use it on a pan gasket is because it's a servicable component and has to come off every once in a while and it's a bitch to clean off and makes a mess every where.

 

if it is the pass. side front it could be the dipstick grommet that the whole tube inserts into. i had a buddy with an '84 and we did the pan twice before we realized it was the grommet that was leaking

 

I took my inspection cover off and tightend up two lower bolts behind the torque converter..infront of the tranny. They are the only 2 that i can see leaking. I put a 1/4 turn on them and the leaking is cut in half. I inspected my old tranny and took one bolt out and noticed that there is a permanent ruber gasket. So I may tighten them donw another 1/4 turn and go from there. What do you guyz think?

 

Well, I put about 1/8 of a turn onthe bolts and NO MORE LEAK I just though i would update everyone just incase anyone else had this problem! Thanks for all of the advise!