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GM Trans Fluid leak

89 Chevy Caprice Wagon 307 engine, 700 automatic trans.

The trans is leaking fluid all the time, even when parked. This has been going on for over a year. I used to have to add a quart every 5 to 6 weeks. Lately, 2 quarts per week. I took car to mechanic. He said it's leaking at the pump (by torque converter). Either the gasket or loose bolts. He tightened the bottom bolts. They were tight. He said the other bolts can not be tightened without trans removal. They want big money to remove the trans, in fact more than I paid for the car. I probably wont fix it at that cost. I'll just keep adding fluid till it gets too bad and junk the car.

A few questions.

  1. Can I tighten those other bolts by buying a special tool?

  1. I cant understand how this kind of gasket would get bad unless the bolts were loose, which comes back to finding a way to tighten the bolts without removal. I also cant understand why the leak is getting worse. Why would the gasket get worse? Once again, it seems like the problem is loose bolts.

  2. Is there any way to apply some silicone gasket maker around that pump without removing the trans? -OR- is there something I can add to the fluid to seal that leak?

Thanks

Kingket

Reply to
kingket
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Fixing it is the only cure. Sealers and gunks don't cut it. The leak is probably an oil seal, and is getting to a chronic point. Is the car worth the price of a D I Y Rebuilt trans ? A complete rebuilt is a few hundred. The labor, costly !

Reply to
Paul

Did they use the 700R4 trannies on the 307's?? I thought the 700R4 was used on the 305's and 350's. As far as I know the bolt pattern is different. My 89 Caprice Waggy has the 307 with the 200R4 tranny, Even my GM service manual has the 200R4 listed but not the 700R4.

All that aside.. you can do a couple things. one.. don't fix the leak, continue to add fluid which will leak out and live with the possiblity that the tranny could grenade itself at any time and know that your leaking tranny is also doing nothing to help the enviroment.

Two.. pay out major $$$$ making the tranny shop rich and get the leak fixed

Three.. Take your chances and buy a tranny from the wrecker (30 day warrenty on most things, but check with the wrecker first) and either have a tranny shop or garage install it. ( this is generally the cheapest route at first but a couple bad trannies and the end price will be the same as the cost to fix it now)

Snow...

Reply to
Snow

Nope. No tool made to do what you want to do since with the converter in the way you cannot get to the bolts anyway.

It's nothing more than a paper gasket between the pump body and the trans case. It has gotten old and brittle and is starting to fail. Probably between two of the bolts. it could also be the front seal that has gotten dried out and damaged. NOT CAUSED BY LOOSE BOLTS.

Nope. No way to get into the area. Trans sealers usually just kill the trans faster.

I'm surprised it passes inspection since a leak like that wouldn't pass here. Basically you have five choices. Pull the trans yourself and repair the leak. Take it to a trans shop and have the leak repaired by them (probably they will want to rebuild the trans since it is OLD) Swap the trans for a salvage yard unit and hope you get a good one. Keep dumping in juice and pray that the trans doesn't grenade while your driving the car. Junk the car and get a different one.

Reply to
Steve W.

The guy at the shop said it's a 700 trans. I really never knew. It's a 3speed with OD and has an electric connector for the OD (I disconnected that wire long ago, that damn thing was always shifting into OD when I needed power, like going uphill). I had another car with the same engine and trans that did the same thing. A mechanic told me to unplug that wire.

As for the problem, I have decided to start looking for another car. This is a station wagon, so I already know I can sell it to someone for a demo derby car. They'll only have to fill the trans once for the derby. Just wish I had not spent all that money for new brakes, new exhaust, and all new steering parts, plus new tires in the past few months. Oh well, cars are made to waste our money..... I will keep the tires anyhow.

Reply to
kingket

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