TH 350 Leak -- not where you might think.

[kayak]

TH 350 Leak

My '76 is bleeding out a steady drip of tranny fluid and I'm afraid a pull/rebuild is in order.

Let me explain.

I pulled the tranny pan awhile back to service the filter/fluid. No leak at this point, but I figured it was time to find out what was floating around inside my tranny. Found lots of miniscule metal shavings, a small chunk out of a gear tooth, some sediment, but nothing that worried me too much.

Sraightened pan out, new filter, rubber gasket (no sealant), bolted it all back up, refilled and it all ran fine.

Drip, drip, drip.

Got back under and checked my torque on the tranny pan bolts...all held fine at bwtween 12 and 13 ft. lbs.

Drip, drip, drip.

Turns out the drip is not coming from the tranny pan at all -- it's coming from beneath the flywheel/torque converter cover. So I removed the cover and sure enough, a pool of fluid had gathered in the lip that is closest to the tranny pan. I can't get up there enough to see where the fluid is leaking from.

Torque converter itself felt dry. No fuild on flywheel either. Did I damage a seal between torque conv. housing and valve body housing?

Just give me an excuse to pull this thing, because at this point, I'm frustrated enough to rent a tranny jack and yank it out for a better look.

Any and all help would be most appreciated.
Thanks, Kurt
Silver '76 in resto

 

[Tom Bryant]

leak

Kurt,
More than likely it is the front pump seal where the torque converter slides in. This is a common problem and doesn't require a complete rebuild to change. You will have to pull the trans though. When you replace the torque converter coat the new seal with clean trans fluid and be careful not to damage the seal. Replace that tail housing rear seal while you have it out also.

Might even consider taking that converter to a transmission shop and have it flushed and cleaned while it's out.

Tom

 

[widewhites]

Exact same problem, mine was the seal. It became worse because I didn't notice it on time and trans oil pump wnet out on me. 5 dollar seal ended costing me a rebuilt trans.

 

[Dave M]

I didn't know this was a common problem until reading this thread. I had the same problem with a transmission fresh from the reconditioners! They were good about it and pulled the trans. for free, tho it took them a week. Pesky little suckers, those seals. Replace that one, as there is nothing like
drip, drip, drip
to ruin a perfectly good day to be out.
Good luck
Dave M