Hand tighten bolts on my transmission?????

[unleashedcc]

Ok, I am so disappointed. The one mechanic I trusted did me nasty. About 15 months ago, I had my ATX rebuilt in my 02. I have been noticing a minor transmission leak coming from between the engine and transmission for a couple of months but paid it no attention. 5 days ago, transmission fluid started to pour from the same place (not a minor leak, I mean POUR!!!)

My year warranty was 5 months too late, and I wasn’t going to spend another $1200 to fix it. I decided to do it myself with the help of 2 buddies and the forums



Throughout the whole process, we have found so many bolts that were hand tighten, barely any effort to take them off. We are no transmission expert so we really don't know where the leak is coming from BUT we did notice that the 5 bolts holding the plate with the transmission pump were hand tighten.



Could that be the reason why I had such a massive leak? Was the fluid coming out through there since those 5 bolts were loose, or maybe even the washers on them were not changed?

Or could it be the pump itself, like an internal leak? I was told if the pump goes bad it will give signs before it goes completely (loose of pressure would make the car run horrible) and not necessarily leak, not to mention a check engine.

I am not sure what to do now. I'm debating to take the transmission to a shop and get it inspected and waste more money. I would hate to put it up and leak still.


Suggestions?????

[gilly02le]

I'd say your leak was likely from behind the pump assembly, as it would look like the main seal was leaking while the trans was still installed. You could likely just get away with re-sealing it, but shit man, do you really trust what else could be loose inside that beast?
P.s your mechanic is a goof, i'd for sure tell him to his face.

[unleashedcc]

oh I will I've been looking to maybe just do a MTX swap but I'm short in time I need my car back asap.

[occasional demons]

The FSM shows a flat gasket behind the pump assy. So you may just need to tighten the bolts to spec. I would put a new front lip seal in where the TC slides in tho. I have never had any luck reusing those.

[unleashedcc]

A shop is quoting me $650 to check the trany, put another torque converter, new seals, new o rings.

Is all of that really necessary? I keep getting the feeling the problem is simple, just those 5 bolts were loose but everyone wants to rape me a new one to put everything new what should I do?

[occasional demons]

I would just tighten down the pump, and replace the TC seal. Unless the welds on the TC are leaking, I see no reason to replace it. I was working fine right before this so why mess with it?

For $650, I would risk the re install and possibly having to pull it back out.

[unleashedcc]

I decided to take it to a shop specializing in SRTs and neons (www.rage-tek.com) some of you might heard of them, they sell parts as well, lucky me they are located 15minutes away

Nemo told me that it could have been the bolts, but he recommended to replace all the seals while I'm at it just in case. He is going to charge me $400 for the job. He said the torque converter should be fine as long as the transmission never slipped, he also smelled the fluid in it and it was normal.

What I'm a lilttle worry is that the car after it was low in fluid of coarse started to slip. I only drove it in/out of a parking spot. One time the car did that too when a transmission line came off but once I filled it up it drove fine.

[occasional demons]

I think the bigger worry about it slipping, is if it burnt the fluid/clutches, and left debris in the TC. But since your fluid looks/smells OK, I think it should be fine.

$400 still sucks, but it is more reasonable, but only if the $650 the previous place wanted didn't include the cost of the TC.

But for peace of mind... And you are in better hands.