Any Mechanics in the House........

bigmikey

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I have a leaky trans pan gasket which I thought was fixed until a week later it started leaking again. My friend over tightened the bolts. So I called Napa and they said they sell a special gasket that you cant over tighten. Thank god. Anyway, I am thinking that my friend might have bent the pan, as well as ruined the gasket. Does anyone know if when put this new type gasket in and tighten it down, will that make the pan flatten out where its bent?, sorry for the long post, I hope someone can help with this. Also does anyone know where I can get a new trans pan, incase that doesnt work?, I tried Napa, and Autozone, and they cant order one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 

RebelRAM

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I haven't heard of a gasket that is impossible to overtighten. The only can I can think of that he might be referring to is the rubber ones. I have used both cork and rubber gaskets. I prefer rubber ones when I can get it.

I don't know if you have used RTV gasket sealer on it or not, but that will usually prevent leaks. If not, you may want to try some when you put the next gasket on it. Autozone carries RTV, it's made by Permatex.

On most transmissions, you are going to twist the heads off the bolts or strip them out before you bend a transmission pan. Unless you have a really thin transmission pan.

As to where to get one, depends on the age of your car and what brand it is. Most major car dealers like Ford and Chevy and Dodge carry parts or can order parts back to 10 years. I think their is some government law that says they have to carry parts that far back. But if it's older than that, you can usually still get parts, it's just a question of how hard you have to look and how much you will have to pay.

Maybe if you could let us know what car and transmission you have, some of the guys around here could recommend some sources for locating a new transmission pan if you need to.

Hope this helps,
--Jason
 

george9c1

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If your pan is bent it will stay that way. With the pan off you should be able to see if there are any distortions in the pan by holding a straightedge against the pan along the edge and holding up to a light source. Any dimples in the bolt hole areas from overtightening should show readily. If the pan isn't damaged, or not damaged much, a new gasket should be all you need. As you have discovered, these don't need much tightening. You don't want to completely compress the gasket, it has to be able to expand and contract with the temp. changes without losing it's seal. You didn't mention what type of car or trans you have, if a new pan is needed try the yellow pages for transmission parts suppliers, or even wrecking yards (to save money). Hope this helps some.
 

george9c1

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RebelRAM, I haven't seen any trans pan that's weak enough to bend either, but I'm used to working on older American cars and trucks with heavy gage pans. With the way everything is made thinner and cheaper now, I figure anything is possible...
 

bigmikey

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It is a 69 chevy truck with a turbo 400. I hope that the pan is not bent, I know he tightened it really tight though. I also cant remember the name that they called that gasket, but it is a rubber type. They said overtightening it wont be a problem. I just wished I had found one of those gaskets the first time, instead of wasting that money. One more question. Do you know what I would have to do to put in a drain plug in there?, I heard about people putting one in, so they could change the tranny fluid quicker..
 

RebelRAM

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I don't know much about Chevys, but with some real iron that old, you can find parts. If you have a CarQuest nearby, I know they can get you the parts. You can also find parts online to fit that. There are several companies online that deal in restoration parts for old cars and trucks. A company called "YearOne" comes to mind. Their website is at www.yearone.com

As to installing a drain plug, yes that can be done. The question is, do you want to get into drilling and tapping the hole? They sell the plug kits at many places, but unless you have the tap and die sets to make the hole with, it can be a very difficult task. What you might want to do is find the kit and then take the parts and the pan to a machine shop and have them do it for you. I don't know how much they would charge but it shouldn't be much. There may be other kits that don't require tapping threads, but I haven't seen any, then again I haven't really looked hard either.

I guess a main reason why they don't put drain plugs in the pans is because usually when you change the fluid it's usually also a good idea to change the filter too.

BTW, check out these sites... www.jcwhitney.com and www.jegs.com

Those sites have been very helpful to my brothers and me over the years when we have done automotive work.

--Jason
 

_mike_

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Were all surfaces thoroughly cleaned off before puting it all back together? Any pieces of the old gasket on either the pan or the tranny could cause a leak.

Are you sure it's leaking from the gasket between the pan and the tranny and not tracking down from some place else?

Anyhow, those were just some thoughts, maybe the pan isn't really bent or distorted.

Also, if it was leaking before you replaced the gasket, maybe it's something that's just not all that noticeable with casual visual inspection.

Mike
 

dano

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I doubt the pan is bent. SOme rules for tranny pan gasket placement:

--DONT use any type of silicone sealants (some fluid needs to contact the gasket for expansion and silicone prevents this causing leaks). There is a special sealant available for tranny gaskets, but it's rarely used.
--ALWAYS follow the specific bolt tightening pattern and proper torque specs. This is the most common issue when people don't follow the pattern and over tighten.
--Occasionally, the inside of the bolt holes develop flashing (when the inside of the bolt hole expands past the gasket seat). In this case a small ball peen hammer can be used to lightly tap the flashing flat.

--dan
 

bigmikey

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All surfaces were clean, it is definately coming from the trans pan. I am going to get the rubber gasket in a couple days, and try that. What trans oil do you guys recommend?, is the synthetic stuff worth getting, or will I not see much difference with it?.
 

snakebite

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it is easy to overtighten the pan bolts and distort it.
just hammer the dented bolt holes back level.
and no rtv or sealant of any kind.
rtv can be nasty if it flakes off and winds up in the valve body.seen this happen.in fact i got a free 72 nova with a hung governor due to rtv chunks.
 

Wingerr

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The gaskets that prevent distortion from overtorquing may have metal inserts in the holes so they'll bottom out and limit you from before bending things-
 

darkzero

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I'm a mechanic. Don't work on domestics much but servicing things like gaskets are similar with exceptions.

My advice is to listen to what dano and Wingerr said. As dano said sealants shouldn't be necessary for your tranny gasket. I highly emphasize dano's second point. Number one reason that causes a leaky gasket is tightening it in the wrong sequence as well as over tightening.

Screw all the bolts in by hand then start tightening the inner bolts first working your way towards the outer bolts in a criss-cross pattern alternating from each side of the pan.

If your tightening the bolts pretty damn snug, your most likely over tightening. If it's a fairly thick rubber type gasket that don't have the metal inserts as Wingerr mentioned, you'll see the gasket buldge out alot if overtightening. A little buldging out is fine but just a bit and keep it fairly even all the way around.

Any brand gasket should work fine as long as it's for the right application. Of course there are better quality gaskets than others, but the cheapos should hold up well too.
 

Tombeis

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[ QUOTE ]
bigmikey said:
gotta love a Nova

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew the man who ran the Nova division for Chevrolet. We called him the BossaNova.
 

pedalinbob

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i agree with what was stated above.

i might add that i think (it has been a while since i had a turbo 400) that you can buy an aftermarket pan for it, with a drain plug built right in.

i placed a plug on my turbo 400 pan about 10 years ago with a B&M (i think!) drain kit. it only required drilling a hole, and used a series of gaskets and nuts to make it leakproof. worked very well.

by the way...i built a '68 nova--did everything myself except the machine shop work...427....full manual turbo 400 (built myself)...411 rear...i could go on-and-on.

ran 11.86 at 119mph on street tires.
tore part of the subframe from the body on her first run on slicks. also torqued the body so that the passenger door had trouble closing. had to weld in sub-frame connectors.

she was a MONSTER. sold her to go to school.

*sigh* i miss her...but, at least i have some cool LIGHTS!

Bob
 
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