My stepdaughters 2001 OBW has a bad leak which I think is coming from the tranny pan.  I was planning on taking off the pan and using some Permatex RTV 81180.  But once I took off all the bolts the old RTV is holding the pan on.  I can't get the pan to come off.    The bolts were lightly applied. Should I just try to put the bolts back on and try to torque down evenly and hope it seals?  I saw the 4 ft lbs for the tranny bolts so I know to be easy.

It would not hurt.  The factory sealant holds the pan on very well.  

 

If you put them back in, clean the pan and area well and then see where the leak is coming from.

 

Trans coolant lines?

Yeah, it's stuck. Anything sealed with RTV is going to be unless it's leaking so badly that there's basically no seal anywhere. 

When I did it on my 96 Impreza, you have to be very gentle as it's just creased sheet metal. But you can try putting a small flat head screw driver in one area (preferably an area that's slightly lose or the area that leaking the most) and gentle wiggle it around and try to break the seal it has in that spot. Once it's slightly loose in that area, work your way around until the entire pan comes off.

 

You can try re torquing them. But I wouldn't hold your breath. Once that seal is broken, there is not ATF in-between the tranny and the pan that needs to be removed for anything to seal it.

I believe those Trans coolant lines leak a bit.  Are they hard to replace?

thanks guys

I got the pan off.  Replacing inner filter and outer and hopefully is takes care of the majority of the leak.  I like the inner filter comes with a gasket.  I'd rather use that than the RTV....I assume.

It comes with a gasket for the pan? 

Don't use a gasket, that will warp the pan and will cause a leak.

Get permatex auto trans pan sealer.

 

I'd be willing to bet the pan wasnt leaking to begin with. Usually it's the cooler hoses or the external filter.

thanks for the advice.    Are the cooler hoses hard to fix or replace?

How long should I wait for the RTV to cure before I fill tranny?  I permatex says wait 24 hrs but she wants to drive sooner than that.  

I wait at least an hour for the RTV to set before putting fluid in. When things are busy and I have other work that needs to be on the lift I fill it right away and take it for a drive to get it warmed up. Haven't really had any problems doing it that way. Biggest thing it to make sure the sealing surface is 100% clean and dry before putting the pan on. If there's any oil on the surface at all it won't seal no matter how long you wait.

thanks, I cleaned with acetone finger nail polish.  Is it a good idea to finger tight and then set the light torque final after it sets?

 

on to my H6 for a fuel filter change while I wait.

With RTV I always just torque them right away. Torquing after it cures can warp the pan flange.

Edited July 17, 20169 yr by Fairtax4me