1995 E350 motor home (cutaway) chassis w/ 90K mi, E4OD trans. Replaced trans fluid & filter (Wix), using rubber pan gasket supplied with filter. Included directions are to tighten to 80 inch-lbs in first pass, then 120 final pass. Using torque wrench (Craftsman 3/8” beam type, about 45 years old), I was finishing first pass when I noticed that the gasket had squished out about 3/16” around several bolts. Going to 120 was out of the question, so I took pan off and looked at gasket. It looked OK, with no indication of misalignment or any other problems, so I started again, this time using a 1/4” drive ratchet. I tightened it by hand in two passes, just snug and then until the gasket just bulged out a tiny bit, maybe 1/16". Is this tight enough? Could the torque wrench be in error? That much? Any other thoughts?

 

That gasket is going to leak. The original gasket is reusable many, many times and is FAR superior to the cheap junk that comes with the filters.

 

The previous gasket was cork and came apart upon removing the pan. I guess I'll go to Ford and get one. Fortunately, I haven't put fluid in yet and there is no rush to get it on the road. Thanks for the info.