Transmisson Leak
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,269
Likes: 3
From: St. Charles IL
Cruise-In 5-6-7-8-9-11-12 Veteran
A CI-6 Car Show Winner
Re: Transmisson Leak (brian7836)
My own opinion: nothing will make an old worn out seal as good as new, and I really wonder about side effects from using these products. I could see a couple of those Bars tablets in the radiator, but beyond that :nonod:
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Newport News VA
Re: Transmisson Leak (brian7836)
Transmission stop leak product soften and swell all the rubber seals in the transmission. After a while they soften to the point where they can't hold the presure on the clutch drums. I've seen some intances where the seals when pulled off the pistons were near twice the diameter of the original, and soft as mush. Sometime the product works as advertized (stops leaks), but only in the very short term. (great stuff for used car lots)
If you have a leak it would be better/cheaper in the long run to replace, or have the leaking seal replaced, rather than looking at rebuilding the whole trans later.
If you have a leak it would be better/cheaper in the long run to replace, or have the leaking seal replaced, rather than looking at rebuilding the whole trans later.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,179
Likes: 3
From: SF East Bay CA
Re: Transmisson Leak (brian7836)
Where is the leak? Line? Seal? Some are easy fixes. I don't trust "stop leak products. On mine, the two maiun culprits were the governor cover (easy fix) and the speedo connection (easy fix). Check where the leak is, you may be able to isolate and fix.
Good Luck, Let us know what happens... :flag
Good Luck, Let us know what happens... :flag
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,679
Likes: 6
From: Charles Town WV
Re: Transmisson Leak (brian7836)
You didn't say if you had a manual or an automatic. If you have a manual, pulling the tranny apart and replacing the seals is not a major undertaking, the instructions are in your shop manual.
If a doofus like me can rebuild them, then anyone can seal them.
Find out where the leak is coming from. Regarless of what kind of transmission it is, a tailshaft seal is easy to do and can be done with the tranny in the car. If it's an auto and it's the pan leaking, that's not a real chore either. Just make sure you use a really thin coat of permatex ultra blue rtv on the gasket. You don't want the rtv acting as a lubricant when you're torquing down the pan, so make sure you just use a little bit, or else you could squeeze out the gasket.
Stop leak products are snake-oil and will only "fix" the problem for a short while. If you have a leak, do it right and re-seal whatever is leaking.
If a doofus like me can rebuild them, then anyone can seal them.
Find out where the leak is coming from. Regarless of what kind of transmission it is, a tailshaft seal is easy to do and can be done with the tranny in the car. If it's an auto and it's the pan leaking, that's not a real chore either. Just make sure you use a really thin coat of permatex ultra blue rtv on the gasket. You don't want the rtv acting as a lubricant when you're torquing down the pan, so make sure you just use a little bit, or else you could squeeze out the gasket.
Stop leak products are snake-oil and will only "fix" the problem for a short while. If you have a leak, do it right and re-seal whatever is leaking.
