Help! Leaking Transmission Fluid in a HUGE way on my 82 C3!

[joli]

I need to ask if there is anything outside of the obvious with regards to a pretty severe transmission fluid leak coming from the pan. I just had the transmission rebuilt it is a 700R4 in a 82. I keep bringing it back for minor leakas and they clean it up with brake fluid, wipe it off, run the car, then identify where the leak is coming from, tighten up the bolts a bit, let it sit while running, check for leaks, seems good and off I go. I then take the car for a trip to the beach which is 90 miles one way and the car runs fantastic. I get home then park her in the garage and when I check it in the morning my drip pan (which is 2'X3') is full of transmission fluid. It took an entire roll of paper towels to pick it all up if that gives you any ideas. I am now pretty upset so I jack up the car and go under myself to check things out, I do not see much other than the mess from the leak, I clean it up and then take the time to check and see if the bolts are tight, and find out that they are not. Surprisingly I am able to tighten them up a bit, almost all of them with the exception of one, the one that has a bracket attached to it spins it the breeze so I'm assuming that it is either broken and or stripped which may be the problem. Would one bolt on the pan not doing its job account for that much of a leak? I've also been told that it the bolts are over tightened it will warp the pan and if the pan is warped it will continue to leak no matter how tight you bolt it in.

 

[Peer81]

First of all, is the oil at the right level? Is the oil comming from the pan or is it also on the transmission itself. The problem you discribe sound to me like an oilpan problem so you're right on track.

I don't think one stripped bolt alone will cause such a leak. First think I would do is (what you already did) check if the bolts are propperply tighten the bolts (check spec's in your service manual). Look if the stripped bolt is in a place were you can get a nut on top as a temp fix. If this doesn't help check the oilpan if it isn't wrapped.

Greetings Peter

 

[tcxd40]

There is a point where you can tighten the bolts too much. This will destroy the gasket and warp the pan. Each of which while sitting will allow the fluid to leak out. Next area you need to be concern with is the shaft seal if they have not been installed correctly they too will allow fliud to leak out.

tcxd40

 

[sliverbluec3]

I would be real concerned with a stripped bolt. They put all those bolts in the pan so it would torque even around the pan.
If the bolts are overtorqued it will dimple the inside of the bolt holes and the pan has to come off to straighten pan. If it has a cork gasket get rid of it.
I get my 700R filter kit at NAPA with the rubber gasket and have never had a leak with no sealer.

 

[joli]

I'll check out the rubber gasket, I believe thata the gasket that is on there is a cork one.
Thanks

 

[joli]

I'm afraid that may be the case where the gasket is just not sitting right and the pan has warped. I just checked under the car which has been sitting in the garage for a few days now and I've got a good 1/2 quart of tranny fluid in the pan

 

[joli]

yes it was the first thing I did and the oil level is reading correctly both cold and hot, I'm 99.99% sure it is from the pan.

 

[minifridge1138]

If it is leaking around the pan, then I would bet you have a warped pan.
Easy to do if you over tighten the bolts.

Drop the pan. Set on a level surface and see if there are any spots that don't touch the surface.

After you get the pan straight, go buy a felpro gasket.
A little more expensive, but worth it.

Good luck and welcome to CAC!!!

 

[joli]

If it is leaking around the pan, then I would bet you have a warped pan.
Easy to do if you over tighten the bolts.

Drop the pan. Set on a level surface and see if there are any spots that don't touch the surface.

After you get the pan straight, go buy a felpro gasket.
A little more expensive, but worth it.

Good luck and welcome to CAC!!!

thanks, I'll do that, sounds like a weekend project for me.

 

[TimAT]

The 700 pan has a little rib stamped into it around the perimeter thru the bolt holes. That is what squeezes the gasket to the case. Look at that for damaged spots. I'll bet when you drop the pan you'll see exactly where it's leaking from- the gasket will be cut.
And don't use any sealant on the gasket- just below the 2-4 servo in the pan rail is the oil exhaust for the servo- plug that up and the first time it shifts to 4th, it'll be in 4th until you drop the pan. There's a notch cut in the gasket that lines up with that hole. easy to spot.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Get a Helicoil kit to fix that stripped thread while you have the pan off. You don't want the shift cable coming loose or sliding the past the neutral safety position on you.

 

[joli]

nice thanks

 

[joli]

yes definately need to take care of the stripped bolts

 

[joli]

Thanks

I wanted to thank you all for your input, I appreciate it so much. A quick update I brought her back in and have had her back for several days now with (are you ready?) NO LEAKS....hip hip hooray!!!
You guys are the best!

 

[LVMYVT76]

What did you do to fix the leaks?

 

[joli]

What did you do to fix the leaks?

At the shop where I had it rebuilt they told me the leak was coming form the detent cable (not sure I spelled it properly). Based off of the past experiences I've had with the pan I don't know if I believe that. If you go up to the beginning of my question you'll see that I had two stripped bolts on the pan. I would think that they would not have told me that there were two stripped bolts and that the leak was coming from someone too lazy to fix them properly, so voila the detent cable was leaking. All I know is that its been a few days now where she's been driven and the drip pan on the garage floor is bone dry and she's been working just fine.

 

[C3RVETTE]

There is a point where you can tighten the bolts too much. This will destroy the gasket and warp the pan. Each of which while sitting will allow the fluid to leak out. Next area you need to be concern with is the shaft seal if they have not been installed correctly they too will allow fliud to leak out.

tcxd40

This sounds like it may be the problem.you may have warped the pan enough to where you might need a new one.Is it possible the bolt hole threads are stripped enough to not really be screwed in tightly & back out easily? :confused

 

[joli]

What did you do to fix the leaks?

I brought her back to the guys that rebuilt the tranny in the first place. They told me when I picked it up that it was leaking from the detent cable????? Not sure if that is accurate or not, but the leak is stopped, not so much as a drop since I picked her up last week. They kept it for a full day and a half to make sure that it stopped leaking. I'm assuming that the detent cable was not the culprit but rather the two bolts that were stripped or broken and that they have fixed them, they probably did not want to tell me that they had stripped two bolts so hence the "detent cable" leak. I don't know for sure if the bolts are still stripped however when I get the chance I'm going to check it out. Thanks for asking