Transmission leak
 

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I'd like to get some advice on how to go about fixing a transmission leak. Two bolts on the transmission pan of my Sebring 2001 are losing their threads. These two bolts on the lower part of the transmission pan simply turn and turn when screwed in. I'm thinking of getting a tap and die set and putting a helicoil in as a replacement. Is this a good idea?

The other option might be to put in a new transmission pan, but I've read a bit about that in the Haynes manual and it seems like a huge job, requiring a transmission jack and other exotic tools.

At the moment, installing a helicoil upside down while lying under my Sebring seems like the most doable solution. I may entertain the idea of bringing my car into a transmission shop or other repair shop, but I'd prefer to do the repairs myself and I'm concerned about the high cost of this sort of repair at a shop.

Any advice you could offer would be much appreciated.

To summarize: Two bolts on the transmission pan are too loose to properly torque the transmission pan at the lower bottom of it. I'm looking for a permanent solution, but perhaps something like leakstop or threadlock would do for now?

Thanks for reading.

Stripped threads in aliminum cases are very common, as is doing helicoils. I do them all the time. People will not clean the old silicone from the holes before they put the bolts back in and they strip the threads. But, the right way to do it is with the pan off. It's not that big of a job. You can change your fluid and filter while you're in there. The pan seals back up with black RTV. If you use one of those gaskets it WILL leak.

Thanks. I'm actually interested in learning how to do helicoils so I think I'll attempt this. Would you mind stepping me through the process of taking off the transmission pan and adding the helicoils? This procedure doesn't seem to be covered in the Haynes manual I have for my model of Sebring. Could you recommend an instruction manual for doing helicoils on transmission pans? As well, I'm going to do some test helicoil work beforehand, and perhaps you know of a good way to practice doing helicoils? I was thinking of going to a salvage yard and just picking up some crap parts to work on.

I'm using black RTV sealant and I try to do a fairly could job of removing all the guck on them before torquing them back onto the pan. Do you recommend a more effective way of doing this? I simply use a scraper after dousing the bolts in brake cleaner.

The Haynes manual covers removal of the trans pan in the first chapter, under general maintenance, not in the transmission chapter.

You won't be able to successfully seal anything with RTV if it's leaking and covered with oil. You have to have a clean surface to work with.

Don't scrape on the aluminum housing of the transmission except very carefully as you can gouge the aluminum easily and then you'll never get a seal.

go buy a tube of the Chrysler RTV it will seal anything even if wet

Re: Helicoils for Transmission case
 

I have to clarify: I always use RTV sealant. I don't know why a few of you are going on about this.

Additionally, the Haynes manual does not cover what I want to do. I need to repair the aluminum case and probably take it off of the Sebring to work on it.

The issue is the stripped threads in the aluminum case. So I want to repair them using helicoils. TNTech addressed the issue, and now I'd like to know if anyone has any further details about putting helicoils into an aluminum case. This is new territory for me: helicoils: but I'm interested in working with a tap and die set and doing helicoils. I want to learn. So can anyone guide me into taking these first steps into repairing the stripped threads on the aluminum case of my transmission?

Thanks for reading!

sebringhardhat, Check this out ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFYa6sjhh_E

I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Don't know what I am talking about here, but I will give it a stab anyway. My mechanic friend is of the persuasion of "making things work" on older cars vs. making them perfect. I walk the fence on these issues.

Anyway.....he helped me fix a bad bolt on my daughters Sebring, but it might not apply in your case.

If it's an "open" bolt hole.....is there room to stick a nut on the end of the bolt?

If it is a "closed" bolt hole.....ends inside the tranny case (my situation), the original bolt was quite short and there were still plenty of good threads at the top of the hole. I cleaned it out carefully with a "stub/flat type tap and simply used a longer bolt!!!! It work splendidly.

read the instructions on the heli coil kit

"Additionally, the Haynes manual does not cover what I want to do. I need to repair the aluminum case and probably take it off of the Sebring to work on it."

Previously you mentioned that you wanted to remove the "pan", and that was the basis of my response.

Removal of the "case" entails complete removal of the transmission from the car. You don't need to do that to insert a helicoil. That's a major operation. Depending on the size of the hole in the pan, you may be able to insert that helicoil with the pan in place.

The youtube video of the helicoil operation could use a little polishing. When drilling by hand, you need to exercise care to make sure the drilling is perpendicular to the surface to get a straight insert. It looked in the video that he was off a few degrees. That may or may nor be important. Also, when using a tap, I always put some oil on the tap to make cutting easier and to help collect and carry the cuttings out of the hole.

It shouldn't be too difficult to do that under the car. Get some ramps to lift the front of the car up and you should have plenty of room to work. Wear eye protection as you'll be looking up at all that crap falling down.

Let us know how it works out.