bluesilver82

Went to change the oil in the 82. Jacked the car up and found a lake of tranny fluid under the car. The puddle was pretty large about 1 and 1/2 feet wide by about 2 feet long. I had driven the car about five miles on Sunday and the the car ran like a top, shifted perfect no slipping etc.

I Went ahead and changed the motor oil and then cleaned the puddle up. I noticed tranny fluid around the lip of the transmission fluid pan so I tightened the bolts on the tranny pan. They were loose enough to get a couple of turns with the socket on each one. I did not see any tranny fluid on the topside or middle area of the transmission. I checked the fluid level with the car off in park cold. The dipstick showed tranny fluid up past the full level hot on the stick so I wiped it off and did it again same reading. I started the car put it in drive then reverse and the lower gears. Leaned out of the door and looked under the car and no visible drip. Then I put the car in park shut it off and pulled the dip stick again. The fluid level was a little above full cold.
I looked under the car this morning before going to work and no new fluid on the grage floor. I have driven the car about 300 miles since owning it and never had any leaks before nor have I serviced the transmission and the fluid is clean with a nice pink color .

Transmission overfilled leaking through the vent? Torque converter leaking? leaking from tranny pan? or what??????? Did the previous owner over fill it and it did'nt start leaking out till now in the hot weather???? Any Ideas?

bluesilver82

By the way it is a 700r tranny.

76vette1

I'm not that familiar with the 700R, but automatics in general are to be checked with the motor running. That way the pump has filled the hydraulics channels in the trans and the fluid level is at its lowest. This is necessary to be sure the pick-up screen is immersed in the fluid when driving. The reason you got a different reading on the dipstick after running the engine is the fluid did not have time to drain back into the pan.

Since it appears you have not owned the car long, it sounds like the transmission was serviced before you got it and they just didn't tighten the bolts to spec.

bluesilver82

I have owned the car since january The only road trip the car has been on was when it was picked up in Nashville TN and driven to Atlanta GA have not driven it much since 9several trips to the store and post office and a few 4-5 mile joy rides. Since I have owned the car the tranny has never leaked before now. kinda scares me.

sly vette

Do you have prankster friends? You know,they pour a Qt. of fluid under car and watch you go crazy...

jeckel

lol, I love doing that to my friends!


I have seen the pan bolts vibrate lose over time if they were not torqued all the way down. The pan will not leak at first but over time it will start to as the bolts loosen up.

As mentioned above, you should check the trany fluid on an automatic while the car is running.

I say, drive it, enjoy it and just keep an eye on the trany pan for now.

You may want to check all the bolts in the pan just to be safe.

markdtn

Check it hot with engine running, in park. I would probably change the pan gasket since it was loose. While you are there, may as well put a filter in it.

isosceles

check where your speedo cable enters the tranny. See if there is a drop hanging from where the cable screws on to it.
Speedo seal and oring is common. Especially if your speedo bounces or cruise box makes noise.
the ATF drips down all over the pan and is hard to tell where it is coming from.

ThunderMaker

I had a similar problem on my '79. It has a TH350 but, the 700r has tranny lines running to the radiator right? Check 'em for rubbing against something like the bell housing or anything close. Mine were rubbing and wore a hole throught the metal lines, took me forever to figure it out. Luckily the new metal lines were the only thing I had to purchase to fix the problem.

C3Racing

If it is for sure leaking out of the pan gasket , get a new gasket/screen kit and start all over and add 5 QT'S for service. If it is over filled fluid will vent.. but since you re tightened the pan bolts and have seen no leaks since your all good to go .. But yet if you just got the ride it wouldnt hurt to do a maintenance tranny serv for a peace of mind.

Fellow 82 owner.