**Tranny Pan Seal????????**

[ShelbyDogg]

They call for a .180-.200 hole... My drills are fractional, would the 3/16" be the one?

Also do the neutral safety switch ever leek through the switch?...When I removed the plug it was full of fluid.   Recommendations?

Bad switch. I have bad oil pressure switches go bad all of the time that start injecting oil uo into the taped up harnesses. Do a decimal conversion and find the closest bit that you have.

11/64=0.1718, too small
3/16 =0.1875, so yes
13/64=0.2031, too big

3 divided by 16 == .1875

[Bullitt-]

Bad switch. I have bad oil pressure switches go bad all of the time that start injecting oil uo into the taped up harnesses. Do a decimal conversion and find the closest bit that you have.

11/64=0.1718, too small
3/16 =0.1875, so yes
13/64=0.2031, too big

3 divided by 16 == .1875

Thanks for the reassurance Robb......Here goes, wish me luck

[Bullitt-]

    Everything came together last night with not too many extra parts left over  .... The most difficult single aspect was removing & reinstalling the dip stick tube, that's to say low difficulty level.  I did have to get a little creative installing the shift seal, I was under the impression that it could be driven in but there was no room. Instead I used a large bolt & nut with washers to pull the seal down into it's recess. 

   An interesting detail, one of the modifications Terry/tactransman illustrates in his phase-2 post has been done & that had to be prior t0 '79.  The wall beside one of the check balls had been removed.

   I was surprised to find so much brown sludge still in the valve body...Background, 3-years ago when I started working on the car after it had sat for 17+ years I  changed the fluid & what was in the pan was a brown sludge. I ran an extra gallon of fluid through it at that time letting it out the cooler line while adding through the filler tube until it ran clean.  Since then the only use the car has seen is to be moved to the driveway & back or put on jacks stands & run.  The fluid in the pan looked OK & there was just a smidgen of metallic shavings collected at the filter.   Does this sound reasonable?

   Again, Thanks Terry & Rob for your Support.

[ShelbyDogg]

Now was the time to really clean the valve body. Some of those passages aren't used till you get to all of the gears, so just moving the car around the garage for 3 years never really flushed too much out. Metal shavings is a normal sight in a pan and on a filter. You may want to upgrade to a deep pan with a magnetic drain plug at this time.

[Bullitt-]

Buttoning up the OE tranny pan last fall I used  RTV gasket sealant on both sides of the rubber seal, lightly thightened the bolts & let sit for a day before snugging down and adding fluid.  Over the months some leaking occured so I re-tightened the bolts.   Moved the car to the house garage a month ago & the leak is still there...  I have continued to snug the bolts more & more, way over specs now, but still oozing some fluid.    Areas above the pan are not the problem.

  I did my own filter change on my Dakota last year & using no sealant had no leaks

    Any suggestions.?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Wade that thing should be sealed tight... I would think?? The gasket didnt get distorted did it?? Or heaven forbid a hairline crack in the case?? 

[Bullitt-]

Wade that thing should be sealed tight... I would think?? The gasket didnt get distorted did it?? Or heaven forbid a hairline crack in the case?? 

Those Chinese gaskets may be a little less than perfect but when I removed the 1st time it was plenty flat against the pan...Cracked case?!?!?   You ever see this? 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

In the yard over the years I've seen all kinds of strange/goofy stuff. Way to much to list here I've seen  things that worked that shouldnt have ect ect. I've seen hairlines in motors /trannys/rearend/radiators. Not saying a crack IS the prob, but following your post you did everything I could think of. NIKKI had a trans leak too but it was the O-ring on the speedo gear housing piece, your leak is in the front..    maybe Terry's got another idea.... 

[Bullitt-]

The leek seems to be more to the front, I have wiped down the seam 3-times in the last 2-days and the wost area this morning is the left front corner, a little across the front with none in the rear or sides, although there was some all the way around the first time (probably just runs from wherever the leak is). Leak is bad enough that some dripped off overnight.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Is it ever wet anywhere above the seam line (gasket?) Granted could be rear had to see unless you got it high enuff...........

[Bullitt-]

Just did another & more thorough wipe down & concentrated on the above the pan areas, I did this once already.  There was a tinge of red that came from the forward line fitting area which is right above were the worst is showing....I'll check that again in a while & see what I find.

Thanks

[ShelbyDogg]

Wade,
With a fresh gasket on the pan, if you are sure that you did a good job putting it on, is probably the front pump o-ring(the big one) or that pain-in-the-butt dip stick o-ring.

Tranny fluid and anti-freeze leaks are a little hard to find.

One thing you can do to find it.  Get some of that flourecent oil  in the A/C section at AutoZone and pour it into your tranny.  Get a Black Light bulb at WalMart($2) to light up the leak. 

I have a 9 LED ultraviolet mini flashlight that ACE Hardware had at the register for $9 for looking at bad bills, they have since gone up to $20.

Hopefully it is just the dipstick and the fluid is flowing over to the driver's side.

I drain my fluid (you did weld on a drain plug when you had you pan off, right?)
clean the dipstick tube and hole very well with brake cleaner.
Put on a new o-ring.
Lube it up with RTV, then slide it in and bolt it up wet.
then let it sit for 2 days.

[Bullitt-]

Wade,
With a fresh gasket on the pan, if you are sure that you did a good job putting it on, is probably the front pump o-ring(the big one) or that pain-in-the-butt dip stick o-ring.

Did the dipstick tube last fall...new O-ring & some RTV to boot, & that area is definitely dry.
If the pump was leaking would I not see evedence on the bottom of the bell-housing area? That is dry as well.     
Is there a better gasket? I just used the one that came with the filter...
 ... 0-2 so far if this line is not the problem.

[quapman]

I usually do the RTV on both sides of the gasket as well, but tighten to spec (seat of the pants method) and let dry for a day or two. Tightening AFTER the RTV is set up may cause distortion of the pan or the dried RTV itself.

What kind of RTV do you use? One that's designed especially for flanges and mating parts that see oil is the best bet. I think mine is a dark grey color.

My 904 pan is leaking like a sieve and I had the local shop do the R&R to save myself the hassle. Yep, I'll be RE-doing it soon since the type of RTV they used was NONE.

Wade, have you considered a newer pan from a 518 or other magnum generation trans? They are deeper and seem stiffer than the old ones.

[Bullitt-]

  I used a black RTV on both sides... followed the instructions... I had used some dark gray on my rear end and valve covers but they all seem to qualify for the tranny pan....
  If I replaced the pan with a new deeper model would I need an extended pickup?