Odometer has about 189k on it and just had my transmission serviced for a drain & fill. After a month of driving, it has started to develop a small leak around the gasket after parking it on a downward slope of my driveway. After seeing the leak stains on my driveway I parked it in my garage on leveled ground and let it sit for a week. I then noticed more leaking coming from the gasket and dipstick area. The following week though...no more leaking was observed after driving a few times over the weekend and parking it on leveled ground. On the other hand, I did hear a dripping sound coming from underneath after driving around town. Has anyone exprienced transmission leaks or have used RTV in addition to the gasket when buttoning up the trans oil pan? Perhaps the transmission was overfilled or the gasket gave out? I was going to bring it back in since it was covered under warranty, but wanted to hear any advice to get it done right the next time.

 

GAH! I think I've found the problem... Checked the dipstick level and it seems that it is overfilled! Will be sending it back to be corrected. What are the implications of running an overfilled tranny with fluid (besides blowing out the gasket)?

 

I guess it's real easy for someone to overfill the transmission. Some transmissions are checked with the engine running. Some transmissions are checked in PARK, while other transmissions are checked in NEUTRAL. On my truck, the dipstick says to check in PARK, but the dipstick also has different markings for cold and hot. Ford also sent out the transmissions with different pans......some held more fluid, and some held less fluid.

If the tech is inexperienced.......real easy to pull the dipstick with the engine off, or have the transmission in neutral, and read the dipstick wrong between the hot & cold hashmark range. Then not having the right service manual, you fill with 8 quarts instead of 4, because you looked it up on your phone and the first thing that you saw said 8 quarts........

But even worse is the tech with too much experience. He knows it all. He does not have to look anything up. He's worked on cars for more years than you've been alive. Then he does what he knows.......from knowledge gained in The 70's, when he had long hair and drove a Mustang II. Uses a tube of gasket maker instead of a properly sized gasket. It's cheaper that way. His eyes are old, and his hands are shaky. That RTV silicone wasn't applied correctly, and he didn't see that the tube didn't say "high temperature". The torque specs are off on the bolts, because he don't need no torque wrench. He can do it all by feel because his hands are calibrated. Don't read the label where it says for the RTV to set & cure for XXX hours or overnight. Just fill it up with whatever amount of trans fluid that he knows your truck takes......without checking! Oh, by the way, he's always used Brand X ATF.....you don't need Mercon V. His stuff has never had any problems.

I would consider taking it to a different shop. You want to chance the same guy being pissed at you for bringing the truck back, then screwing it up even more?

 

Since it has only been about a month, you probably don't have any real mechanical damage. But the overfilled fluid is probably degraded. I would suggest a complete fluid exchange. Not just a simple drain & fill of the pan. Look into it a little bit more. See if you can source a transmission pan with a drain plug, or if the shop you go to is savvy enough to install a drain plug into your pan. This is a common practice, which allows you to drain and fill your pan much more easily and frequently. You could do it in your driveway with every oil change.

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And in case the shop insist that there is no gasket, and that they have to use gasket maker in a tube.....

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.....and sometimes the shops re-use the gasket, instead of installing a new gasket, and you get leaks.

 

Ford transmission pan gaskets are DESIGNED to be reused unless they are damaged.

Transmissions are also designed to be serviced using an exchange machine, not a pan drop. A pan drop only gets about 1/3 of the fluid out and there haven't been drain plugs in the torque converters for quite a few years now.

 

Excellent point. A fluid exchange machine is the best way to do it.

There are DIY methods. But a shop should use a machine. I have done the DIY in the driveway, by disconnecting a cooling line, pumping into a bucket, and refilling via dipstick hole. But it's not as good as using a machine. And I did not save much money either. I drain & fill with the drain plug in the pan. I know it's not the best option. Adding new fluid to contaminated fluid is not the best option. When I drove the truck 20000 miles a year, I drained and filled with every other oil change. 10000 mile intervals. That may have been excessive. Fluid coming out still appeared fresh. Truck is now 12 years old and fluid still looks good. No problems detected with slipping or shifting. Back of my mind says that I should bring it to a shop for fluid exchange.
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Yep, new ones so designed seal better than single use cork. Reused a few, some several times, never yet seen a leak.

 

Damage usually happens when someone uses a knife, screwdriver, or pry bar to "break the seal" as they are removing the pan.

 

Never have needed scraping with these reusable gaskets, they usually almost fall off with pan … but yeah, scraping one is like destroying it.

No welding to pan drain mod. I have spares made up for next drain time.








Big drain bolt is 1/2-20, smaller bolts are 1/4", only drain bolt plug get's removed.

 

That is pretty cool. Did you make that? Or is that sold over-the -counter? If you did make it, you should sell them.

 

Thank You …. I made enough for my Fords, used a 1/2-20 nut weled to a piece of 1/8" thick piece of steel, when I install, I tighten new drain plg, slip in two smaller bolts and tighten …. and I either use 1/4 lock nuts or place head on a steel block and kit ends of threads so the 1/4" bolts will never loosen. Drain plug washer seals to pan. It works ..and it.is cheap.



I have used the B&M kit on some past vehicles, seemed to work OK but has smaller hole for drain.

 

Definitely will look into getting an upgraded transmission pan w/ drain plug next time I do a drain & fill. Most vehicles have a drain plug for the transmissions and diffs. Why did Ford trucks choose to go without? As for my leaking issue, it turned out to the dipstick tube was bent allowing it to leak once the oil has settled to the bottom of the pan overnight. How it got bent? Who knows? That's the beauty of buying a used truck that needs TLC.