Im thinkin abt replacing my pan to a new pan and gasket. I have a few leaks. I know the pan is leaking cuz all the fastners were loose, "finger tightening loose". I see a leak on the passenger side around threaded plug approx. half way up the side of the trans. This plug is abt 1/4 diameter npt. What is this plug for? Will teflon tape have a neg effect on operation. Had new rear seal install upon having rearend repair. It looks like my dipstick is in the pan. I assume this is what I see referred as pan fill. 1.) Im going to replace the gasket if not the pan >> cork or fiber? 2. What pan >> alum. or steel with or w/o drain plug? If these measures hold me till nx driving season - will have completer rebuild. 3.) Thread sealer around the bolts - or no? My leaks are'nt profuse, more annoying than anything at this point - don't like any oil leaks or oil on my garage floor. Otherwise, the trans works and shifts just fine. I really hate to bother it other than the pan gasket. Any suggestion welcome.
I like cork gaskets. I use a little high temp RTV to stick it to the pan, let it set up a bit, then install. I bought a aluminum pan for my AOD, just haven't go it on yet. I have another C4 with a chrome steel pan, it been on there for years, never had a leak. I don't use any sealer on the bolts, just a little anti-seize, since it's going into the aluminum. Drain plugs, on both.
If your bolts are that loose, I'd go get another gasket and tranny filter (comes as a kit) and replace them. Tighten the bolts with an inch pound torque wrench if you have it. If not, I'd tighten them with a 1/4 inch drive socket. Don't overtighten them.
Mojo, The material that your pan is made out of is of little consequence. The aluminum is likely to distort less and provide a bit of cooling. The steel pan is cheap and you can get them at any wrecking yard. You can get either in a deep pan which is worth more than just getting an aluminum one. A drain plug makes it more convenient to drain the oil but it won't drain all the fluid and you have to remove the pan to replace or clean the filter screen anyway. With a pan fill C4 you can use the dipstick connection as a drain - same thing, you still have to remove the pan to clean or replace the filter. It is unlikely that you will find a factory deep pan for the pan fill dipstick but you can find aluminum ones - the dipstick will mount too high on the pan to make a good drain. Now that I got all that out of the way I will tell you what I prefer: I like the aluminum pans because they don't distort - so they seal better. I like the added cooling - even though I know it doesn't amount to much. I DO NOT like the aluminum DEEP pans - they sit too low on most performance cars. If you have the clearance then you can use them. Aluminum pans are expensive - so I make more money on them. That is important because I don't make a lot of money on the transmissions I build. (most of the time I make less than $20/hr for a transmission) based on factory time guides.
Trans Pan Advice Thanks guys for the advice. I checked under the car today and very little fluid on my cardboard I keep under it to judge where approx the oil coming from. I believe I have too much fluid in the trans also. I will ck it tommorrow and bring it to it's proper level B4 I go any farther. I do have a leak on the passenger side where some kind of thread plug resides as I mentioned in the first post of this thread. Once I get the fluid level where is should be I'll proceed from there.
