vasy Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 My 96 OBW is leaking AT fluid from the flange. It's getting worse and tightening the bolts doesn't help. I decided to drop the pan and reseal with Ultra Gray next week. This is the first time in this car's 16-year history to have the pan dropped. I've been doing drain-and-fill every 30K since 1996. Should I bother to remove the strainer and clean it? I see I need an o-ring if the strainer is removed. In the FSM it looks like the strainer is not a flat thing that you can easily clean. The dirty stuff, if any, is kept inside of it (right?). If you have done this before, I'd appreciate your opinion. The car has 138 K miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOONGA Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Buy the service kit for your auto trans and use that to replace everything servicable. That way you won't have to worry about cleaning parts or re using old o rings. should be around 40 dollars + shipping TOONGA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Also drop the plan with as much care as one would use to install a cylinder head. You dont want to bend the lip of the pan. After you remove the pan take a straight edge and make sure the sealing surfaces are still flat. Something that seems as simple as a tranny pan can cause more leaks if not done right. Are you completly sure it is the pan gasket as they seldom leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasy Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Are you completly sure it is the pan gasket as they seldom leak. Yes I'm sure. It's leaking from the rear corner of the pan flange on the driver side. I've read about leakage from the same spot on this forum from other members. I wipe it clean one day and the next day pink fluid shows up again right on the spot. My main question is, on a well maintained AT with every 30K fluid change, does the metal strainer actually trap stuff that needs to be cleaned out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Yes I'm sure. It's leaking from the rear corner of the pan flange on the driver side. I've read about leakage from the same spot on this forum from other members. I wipe it clean one day and the next day pink fluid shows up again right on the spot. My main question is, on a well maintained AT with every 30K fluid change, does the metal strainer actually trap stuff that needs to be cleaned out? Well, it is only my single experience.......I had a 91 Legacy, that I dropped the AT pan on. The pan wasn't leaking, I just wanted to change the filter, because I thought it must need changing, as the car prolly had 150K on the odo. Upon dropping the pan, the filter turned out to be only a fine wire mesh unit. It had almost nothing trapped on the screen, so it didn't need changing. The nasty part was cleaning off the super hardened backed on pan gasket. Even up on ramps, there was minimal space between the pan and the pavement, to be able to work at cleaning off the gasket. From that experience, I deduced that it wasn't worth changing the screen filter, and if anything, I could have easily cleaned off the existing filter and reinstalled. After reassembly, my pan gasket leaked. I prolly did not do a great job cleaning off the old gasket, under less then desirable work conditions. Just snug tight, don't super tight the pan bolts, or you will warp the pan, and that will cause leaks. This is just my single experience, but thought I would post it, as you seem to be looking for testimonials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 IIR that pan is stuck pretty good. Don't warp it upon removal. If you look I believe there is a place or two kinda cast into the alum of the trans to allow to get a screwdriver in there to aid in pan removal near a corner or two. I really only work with 95-99's. Gasket scraper and razor blades, gasket removal aerosol can if you like seems to work better than my usual brake cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Pointless to clean or replace those strainers. They're never in need of cleaning and they aren't a filter at all. Even with 200,000 miles they're clean. It's like the screen in your window screens in your home. If it was clogged you would have serious trans issues and be needing a new trans, not a new filter. Fuel pumps have a sock on them too that's the same principle as the screen and no one is ever replacing those...and by design there would be far more merit in replacing some of those (the ones in line with the fuel flow verses the in tank styles) than these AT strainers, but no one is. The only value you'd have in pulling it would be to install a new oring, but without any current issues and your frequent oil changes I wouldn't worry about that. If you tightened the trans oil pan - make sure the bolt holes aren't "dimpled upwards" so to speak. i've seen it before where the bolt holes aren't flush anymore due to tigthening, it makes them "concave up" and the mating surface not flat due to tigthening the bolts like you said you did. you can try to press/tap them down, file it flat, etc or get another pan that's flat. maybe a significant amount of sealant would make up for it, i don't know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Don't forget the O-ring for the filler tube/dip stick assuming others Oring may be a different one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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