I noticed the other day some trans fluid around the pan of the trans, mostly on the back end. I looked closer and noticed one pan bolt was completely missing (the very last bolt in the middle and back). Anyway, I got a new bolt from the dealer and when I installed that I noticed a few of the bolts around the missing one were slightly loose. Checking the ones on the side and front of the pan were fine. I cleaned up all the fluid I could see. I went for a drive in both stock and other fun settings on the DP Tuner and when I returned, there was slight fluid build up along the same seal border (of the trans pan). Fluid level is fine, for now. So, what now? Is the pan seal shot due to a bolt missing for an unknown time? Any ideas of what is causing the slow leak or how to stop it? Maybe this is normal?

 

Drain the fluid, take pan off and have a look at the gasket. If bad, change it then put it all back together.

 

Update: I put in a new pan, new OEM gasket, and torqued the bolts to 10foot/#s. The leak is still there. Again, not a bad leak, but a leak. Any ideas? Should I torque the bolts to 12 (read that number somewhere)????

 

Do you have your trans temp sensor in the test port on the left side of the trans? I had it seep from the threads before. I removed it and added some more pipe sealant on the threads and all was well again. Also, the seal on the manual lever shaft could be leaking. Check behind the DTR (digita trans range) sensor for a leak from this seal.

 

Well, that should not happen. Clean the area up and make sure your cooler bypass is not clogged causing high fluid pressure. IOW make sure to isolate the source and if it is the pan then maybe you have a bad surface for sealing.

 

Sorry for the delay, I wanted to wait until I had driven it some, with and without towing, and post these pictures. What do you all think? Close up, the rear bolts are very wet and it looks like the fluid is seeping from the seal as well as from around the bolt. You can see that the trans fluid sprays all over and even gets the front drive shaft all wet. The trans sensor is dry (for the Isspro gauge), so it is not leaking from there. The sides and front part of the pan are dry. Again, this whole thing started with one missing pan bolt, not sure for how long either. I was ultra diligent and had the seal surface clean and torqued to 10 foot/#s. Do I dare go to 12? Seems to me that the bolts just aren't tight enough, but I don't want to warp that thin metal of the pan. Any thoughts from the trans specialists?

 

Just re-read this. How do I make sure my cooler bypass is not clogged? I recently installed the 6.0 cooler (after I noticed the leak) and my temps are fine.

 

Bump bump, help! Anyone have an idea?

 

I've never seen a cooler bypass clog. It is VERY unlikely to happen. If your temperatures are fine then it's working correctly. Plus, even if it were clogged it won't cause high pressures or leaks.

From your photos it looks to me like the leak may be at the extension housing to the case gasket, not the pan gasket.

 

Thanks Mark. I thought that too, any way to know with out removing the case? What are those bolts torqued to? If it was the case gasket, would the pan bolts get so wet? It seems like they are more wet than anything else.

 

You don't need to remove the case. You can remove the tailhousing. I don't have a torque chart to be able to give you the values. A leaking extension housing can make the pan bolts wet.

 

Extension housing torque spec. 20-29 pound feet.

 

Thanks guys, I will try and retorque those bolts and see if that helps. If not (most likely not), how difficult is it to replace that gasket?

 

Not hard. You can use a paper gasket, or just glue with your favorite RTV.

 

Thanks, do I need to drain the fluid out and remove the case to replace this gasket?