Yesterday I did a fluid/filter change on my 44RE tranny. Checked for leaks today and found that the pan is leaking from one side. I logical thing was to check to make sure the bolts on that side were tight enough. I figured I could get away with not using a torque wrench and just. I tighten them a little more than what they were. It slowed down the leak to only a few drops a minute. I used the supplied rubber gasket and made sure that the pan and transmission side were free on all old gasket material. The odd thing was that the filter came with 2 gaskets. I used the one on that fit the pan, other one had a narrow area on the beveled corner. Do any of you guys use any kind of silicone in addition to the gasket when doing a fluid change? Another problem that I know I'll run into in removing the pan again is I know for sure one of the bolts may gotten cross threaded (on opposite side on leak). Any suggestion on what to do for that problem?

 

i would of made sure that pan isnt misformed to where its very noticable. the gasket should take care of other minor misformations between the pan and the transmission case. not a lot of torque should be aplied to those bolts, they can strip out very easily. with that gasket you shouldnt need silicone at all, make sure that gasket is good and doesnt have any defects in it. and when you put that filter up there, i hope you replaced the old o-ring with the new one supplied with the filter. the old o-ring, msot of the time, gets stuck up in the valve body. just like an oil filter o-ring stuck to the mount face on the side of the block.

 

I did replace old o-ring and made sure the surfaces were completely clean. Never heard of anyone using silicone but thought it might add some extra 'insurance'. Pan did seem just slightly wavey on side it is leaking from, but thought the gasket would take care of it. Pan is draining currently to see what the problem is. I was right about the cross threaded bolt. Now my problems have gone from managable to bad real fast. Any ideas to fix the cross threaded bolt??? I'll look to see if I need a new pan.

 

retap the hole and go from there, those bolts only need to be snug so they dont back off and be able to squeeze the pan gasket, the gasket will take are of the rest. ive seen silicone used before on chrysler transmissions. not as bad as to clean up like the cork gaskets. they fall apart and fuse themselves to the case surfaces.

 

Pans out and it seems like the pan area that was leaking, under the gasket, on the pan has slight low and high points. Almost like it's been warped. How the hell would this thing warp?? I did have the bolts on there pretty tight so I don't know if that may have been a factor. Could have smashed the rubber gasket too much. Well looks like I'll be shopping for a new pan. Would image these things are hard to come by. Got to work on that hole anyway, so I guess I won't be driving the truck for a few days. Keep the ideas coming. I'm up for anything right now.

 

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Okay, about your cross threaded bolt. By now it's not tightening I presume.
Go to Napa or wherever. But a helicoil kit. It's a piece of cake.
Transmissions are aluminum and thus if you over tighten you will strip the threads.
Get the right size helicoil tap. Drill out the hole, tap the hole, and screw in the helicoil using a slight drop of staytight. Your done and the bolt will now hold better than new!

 

Rubber gaskets work great. Prior to replacing the pan, put on the gasket, put the bolts through the pan and through the rubber gasket, the rubber gasket should hold the bolts in place. Now while you're on your back, hold the pan up with your left hand and with your right hand tighten the bolts using a small hand operated battery type drill with a socket extender. Go from top to bottom and side to side and just barely snug up the pan. Then go from top to bottom side to side slowly tightening each bolt the same...delivering equal pressure through-out all bolts. Continue the sequence until they are all just a bit over snug. Check the next day for leaks and slightly tighten just a touch if need be.