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    Transmission pan leaking RTV?

    Well I had changed my tranny fluid about 6 months ago and I have been noticing a leak developing on the passenger front side of the pan. I torqued it down to the propper 10-12 Ft-lbs it need and it still does it.

    Only happens if the car sits for over a week.

    I used a rubber gasket and a little gasket rtv stuff to ensure the gasket stays in place.

    A budy of mine told me that I don't need (not suppose to use it-the rtv) just for this reason.

    Did I mess up? Could it be the tranny pan?

    Its looks as though I need to reseal the tranny pan. I don't know, I might buy another tranny pan too.

    Any thoughts on my predicament.
    "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

    -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
    -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
    -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
    -2011 Subaru Outback

    #2
    Technically you could just use RTV, but you shouldn't have to. It could be the pan being slightly dented or warped, but you should be able to see it.

    How accurate is your torque wrench? it's possible it's not accurate and you can tighten all the bolts a bit more
    -Phil

    sigpic

    +1982 Ford LTD-S Police Car. Built 351w, Trickflow 11R 190 Heads, Holley Sniper EFI, RPM Intake+ Hyperspark dizzy, WR-AOD, Full exhaust headers to tails. 3.27 Trac-Lok Rear. Aluminum Police Driveshaft. Speedway Springs+Bilstein Shocks, Intermediate Brakes, HPP Steering Box.

    +2003 Acura CL Type S 6-speed

    Comment


      #3
      If the pan is aluminum, it's also possible to torque them too much and cause the pan to deform enough to cause a leak.
      Nick


      Past: 1967 Continental convertible, 1987 TC Cartier, 1996 TC DAE & Signature, 2002 LS V8, 2006 Zephyr, 2010 MKZ AWD, and many more.....
      Current: 2010 F-150 Platinum Supercrew 4x4
      Wanted: 1967 or 1969 Contnential sedan
      Only in my dreams: A Continental Mark II

      Comment


        #4
        I bealieve it is aluminum (it's stock) don't think it was ever replaced.

        I do compensate a little more. I am pretty sure I went for 10-12ft-lbs

        Is the pan worth bending back, or is it better just to replace?
        "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

        -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
        -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
        -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
        -2011 Subaru Outback

        Comment


          #5
          if you have a way to remove the pan and make the mating surface flat again, yes it's worth it, and can be done pretty quick. Couple taps with a hammer with a flat block on the other side can do wonders.

          Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
          rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
          Originally posted by gadget73
          ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
          Originally posted by dmccaig
          Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

          Comment


            #6
            There's always room for error when torquing nuts/bolts. It's just not an exact science. It all comes down to getting the nut/bolt tight enough for your particular application but not too tight. If you have crud in the threads in a low torque application like this one, that could cause the bolt not to be in far enough even though the wrench says the torque is right. Something simple you can try before pulling the pan is take out the bolts one at at time, make sure the threads are clean (blow compressed air in the hole if possible), and re-torque the bolt you just checked before going on to the next one.

            2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
            mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah, I would have to remove the fluid (drain it) - No clue how many quarts that is. On a side note, since the fluid is still newish, can I reuse it, or just cough up the extra time and dough and pour in new?

              I can try to fix it, I just though it was those things that its cheaper to just replace the pan
              "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

              -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
              -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
              -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
              -2011 Subaru Outback

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by porschpow View Post
                Yeah, I would have to remove the fluid (drain it) - No clue how many quarts that is. On a side note, since the fluid is still newish, can I reuse it, or just cough up the extra time and dough and pour in new?

                I can try to fix it, I just though it was those things that its cheaper to just replace the pan
                The pan would probably have no more than 4-5 quarts. If you suck the fluid out with a clean tube and hand pump before pulling the pan, then I don't see why you couldn't reuse that fluid (unless you find that, despite changing it, it's already dirty enough that you wouldn't want to reuse it). The big issue is contamination. If there's no contamination, then you're just putting back what was already there. If you have crud on the edge of the pan when you pour the fluid out, you wouldn't want that being put in.

                2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                Comment


                  #9
                  Gotcha!

                  I guess this time, I will not use the rtv stuff, and just use the Felpro RUBBER gasket from ROCKAUTO.

                  I was trying to find tranny pans on rockauto, but no dice. I guess I could look for another year PAnther, I am sure they are all compatible if its the AOD
                  "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

                  -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
                  -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
                  -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
                  -2011 Subaru Outback

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by porschpow View Post
                    Gotcha!

                    I guess this time, I will not use the rtv stuff, and just use the Felpro RUBBER gasket from ROCKAUTO.

                    I was trying to find tranny pans on rockauto, but no dice. I guess I could look for another year PAnther, I am sure they are all compatible if its the AOD
                    I don't see why you're rushing to get a new pan at this point. If you didn't have a problem before you removed the pan, and if you didn't do anything to mangle the pan, and if the rubber gasket wasn't damaged, and if you torqued the bolts in the proper pattern, then it might be nothing more than a bolt not being tight enough. With the rubber gasket, you need a certain minimum tightness for it to seal properly. As long as you achieve that, the gasket should be somewhat forgiving of overtightening or minor irregularities in the pan. I don't see how the RTV would have affected anything.

                    2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                    mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Well someone I work with said never to use rtv with the gasket because eventually, it will just leak.

                      In the six months, I have re-torqued the pan again, still leaks.

                      IIRC, it still leaked (not as bad) before I took the pan off

                      So I have no clue, what I could have possible done to bend the pan (if I did which I doubt). I used the wire wheel (bench wheel) to clean the old gasket crap off the pan- But I can't see that bending anything)
                      "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

                      -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
                      -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
                      -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
                      -2011 Subaru Outback

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by porschpow View Post
                        Well someone I work with said never to use rtv with the gasket because eventually, it will just leak.

                        In the six months, I have re-torqued the pan again, still leaks.

                        IIRC, it still leaked (not as bad) before I took the pan off

                        So I have no clue, what I could have possible done to bend the pan (if I did which I doubt). I used the wire wheel (bench wheel) to clean the old gasket crap off the pan- But I can't see that bending anything)
                        Don't believe everything you hear. One of my father's former employees used to say, with all seriousness, things like "The dark flakes that you see in cereal are the result of insects getting into the ingredients". I'm no expert, but I just don't see how using RTV properly could lead to problems. Maybe if there was a big blob of it that was allowed to harden before putting the pan on, but even that might not necessarily cause problems.

                        In any event, since you're already prepared to replace the pan, it couldn't hurt to try to overtighten the bolts a little bit. The upper end of the specified torque is probably a bit conservative anyway. Once you're sure the bolts are torqued to the upper end value, give them a further 1/16 turn. That might be all that you need. If not, then you could possibly try another 1/16 turn. The weak link would be the rubber, so stripping the bolts shouldn't be an issue unless the bolts are really tight.

                        2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                        mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                        Comment


                          #13
                          actually, am I even right?

                          Is it 10-12 ft-lbs. I didn't even see it call out that spec in the manual
                          "To Find yourself, you must first lose yourself"

                          -1973 Volkswagen Bus Westy
                          -1986 Honda Magna 700cc
                          -1989 Lincoln Town car Signature Series
                          -2011 Subaru Outback

                          Comment


                            #14
                            If I see this post later when I get home, I can check. Don't have my EVTMs here at work.

                            Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                            rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                            Originally posted by gadget73
                            ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                            Originally posted by dmccaig
                            Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by porschpow View Post
                              actually, am I even right?

                              Is it 10-12 ft-lbs. I didn't even see it call out that spec in the manual
                              I have a Chilton's for 89-98 Crown Vic/Grand Marq that says 107-119 in-lbs, which apparently converts to 9-10 ft-lbs. An online source said 10 ft-lbs. If you're already up to 12 ft-lbs, then you should be cautious. Based on what I just read, the housing is aluminum, and the threads in the housing can strip fairly easily. Stripped threads can be fixed, but I certainly wouldn't want the extra aggravation.

                              The only other option that I can think of short of pulling the pan at this point is finding exactly where the leak is and smearing some kind of suitable sealant over that area. Otherwise, I guess you'd have no choice but to pull the pan.

                              Is it possible that something else is leaking onto that area and making it seem like it's coming from the pan?

                              2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                              mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                              Comment

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