Keisler Tranny Leak - Keeping a journal in case someone finds it after I am gone

[Dray]

Hey everyone,

I recently dropped in a 426 EFI hemi into the Chally which also included a tranny swap to a TKO-600.  Sooo, I have about 100 miles on the powertrain and I notice an oil leak coming from the tranny.  It took me a couple days to finally track down the leak, which seems to be getting a little bit bigger.  I will be calling Keisler tech support to find out what the deal is and I just thought I would start a post noting my progress and the customer support and service I am receiving from Kesiler. 

This should turn out to be a minor issue (I hope) as the leak appears to be coming between the bronze plate and the silicon gasket sealant although I am a little confused as to why there would be that much oil pressure at that spot to cause the leak?     The crappy part is that I will likely have to drop the tranny to make the fix.  Oh well, may the force be with me!

ciao,
dray

[Carlwalski]

Best of luck Dray. With good photos and descriptions like that Keisler will love you. I've heard some guys call up saying they've got leaks, and, that's about it. Not sure what any tech support group would do with vague info like that, anyhow, looks like you have got the photos and knowledge to get it sorted quick. Be interesting to see how you get treated. I'll be watching this one closely as I have the same trans as you. Is your trans the 0.64 or 0.82?

[Dray]

Quick Update:  I just talked to Richard at Keisler and sent the pics off to him.  He said the tranny would be covered under warranty.  That surprised me since I bought the engine Dec 7, 2005, but just got it into the car a month ago, but this is a good sign They said that I would likely have to ship the tranny back to them to get them to fix it.   I then mentioned that this idea sucked as I am in Western Canada, so he said he would get the tech guys to look over the pictures and determine if it was minor enough for me to, eerrrrr Chryco to fix. 

NZ, I went with the 0.82 overdrive ratio, which from my limited driving is definitely the better choice over the 0.64.

Cheers,
dray

[HemiDog]

FYI: Your warranty starts when you order the drive shaft.  This is really cool, especially for all of us taking our time with our projects. 

[Mopar73340]

You got lucky and got hold of the best tech support person at keisler. Richard is good at taking care of the problems. (I have had several) I have spent lots of time on the phone with him and he has taken care of all the issues with mine except for one.  I to have a leak in which is comming from the point at which the tail shalt and the main body go together. I bought my tranny in 2002. Keisler had to do a update to the tailshaft to the new model or design when it wouldn't fit the car. They don't use any gaskets to seal the trans.  The leak right now is small so I'm in no hurry to pull it (maybe this winters project) but I was told that it would be covered by warranty if I wish to pull it. I think they are finally stepping up to the plate and taking care of us after the fist few years of crummy cust service, so at this point I have to give them a thumbs up thanks to Richard.

[Dray]

Another update:

Richard called me back within 30 minutes of our initial conversation.  The area where the oil is leaking from is a shifter location for a camaro I think.  Naturally they would have this location covered off.  Now for the bad news, this shifter location should not have any oil in it, so that means there is a seal that is leaking allowing oil into this spot.  Sooooo, this is what was suggested to me:

1)  Pull the tranny out of the car and pull the shifter cover plate off, clean it up and reattach with RTV sealant
2)  When summer driving is done and I need to park the car for the winter, pull the tranny and ship if off to Keisler and they will fix the seal.

Overall this is a pretty good solution for me, albeit a little bit of a pain in the butt and a little disappointing as this is a brand new tranny and expectations are it will work fine.  Anyways, Richard was awesome and I am happy with his responsiveness.     Sooo, all the poor customer service issues I have heard with Keisler from delayed orders to uncaring troubleshooting support people, for some reason are not applying to me.  Perhaps, they are changing their ways or maybe I am just lucky.  I will dig this link up when I send the tranny to Keisler this winter and let you all know how that goes.

Cheers,
dray

[Carlwalski]

Glad to hear you're making some major headway Dray. Do you know when they may have updated or fixed this fault? Reason I ask is because I just purchased my Keisler kit 2-3 months ago, hopefully with this fault fixed!

0.82, good choice mate. The 0.64 is kind of overkill, short 1st and you're doing 80+mph @ 1,900rpm LOL

[Dray]

Hey Everyone,

Well I pulled the tranny out of the Challenger on Wednesday.  I started at 2:00 and drove the car away at 7:30.  So 5 1/2 hours feels respectable for me considering I haven't really did any significant mechanical work for the past 15 years. 

Additionally, I have been re-thinking sending the tranny to Keisler this winter.  Since I have to pay for shipping down there and I also have to pay customs when they ship the bloody thing back, I am not certain it will really be worth the effort or cost savings.  Additionally, by the time spring comes around the warranty will have expired, so I am not sure what I will be gaining by going this route.  I am sure there is a local shop here that will fix Tremec tranny's.

NZ, I have no idea if this is a common problem with these transmissions or if I just had some bad luck.  Hopefully yours will be bulletproof.

Here is a pic of where the seal dislodged.  I pushed the seal back into the housing before I put the RTV sealant on with the covering plate. 

[Chryco Psycho]

I am glad you were able to get it in & out Ok