Hi everyone, Ive noticed a leak from my Dakota for around a month or so now and at first I thought it was just from my oil pan since i just did a switch to full synthetic oil. After taking my truck to the muffler shop to get a resonator put on, I noticed that the leak was coming from the automatic transmission pan. The mechanic made sure all the bolts were tight so that wasnt the issue. My mechanic is saying I just meed a new transmission flush, filter, and gasket. I have not noticed any slipping or anything out of the usual with the transmission so im hoping this shouldnt be too bad of a fix. Any insight or help is gladly appreciated. Thanks

 

I would first clean off the whole area around the transmission pan to see if the leak is still there. If it is, check to see where it's actually coming from. If it's from the gasket area, you'll need to remove the pan to change the gasket - this will mean that you will need to drain all the oil in the pan, remove the pan, change the gasket (or use RTV) and reassemble everything & re-fill the transmission. If you do this, you might as well change the filters in the transmission and if the fluid isn't burned (you can smell it, and it would also be a slightly different color when burned), there's no need for a full flush. The cost of having this done will be about the same where ever you take it, so personally I would suggest going to a transmission shop - you'd probably even get a better package deal there as well as a warranty. The alternative is to do it yourself, it's not that difficult.

 

I'm thinking of just doing it myself but is at as easy as just removing the bolts around the transmission oil pan, then removing that thing inside and the oil filter? I'm not sure if there's some kind of drain plug I need to remove first either. I didn't get much time to look underneath and i'm willing to do this myself. I'm not really an expert but I know how to do most little things like brakes, oil, valve cover, spark plugs, suspension (shocks/springs/sway bar), etc.

 

Get the Chilton or Haynes manual for our trucks. It is pretty cheap and has all the details you need on how to change the fluid, step by step.

You should tighten the bolts down in a specific order, to make sure the gasket stays seated properly and seals well. The filters are easy to change if you have instructions showing you how to remove them, just glancing at them without instructions will leave you scratching your head.

The Chilton/Haynes may come in handy later as well, I used mine repeatedly for my past vehicles. My current ones are still under warranty, so haven't had a need for them yet.

 

Getting a manual of some type would be good to give you an overview of what you need to do & in what order - Haynes manuals are cheap, but they aren't always correct (I don't know about the transmission section for the 3rd gen Haynes Dakota/Durango manual), but there was a thread in this forum that gave you a link to download a factory service manual - this would be ideal.

On my V8 4x4, there's a cross-member that covers the back section of the pan. This cross member needs to be removed (or the transmission needs to be jacked up a bit) to allow the pan to come off - there's a thread somewhere on this site that talks about that in detail. I can't recall at the moment whether the transmission mount is connected to this cross-member or not, but remember to use a jack to hold up the back of the engine if you disconnect the transmission from it's mounting - that's the 3rd point that holds the engine/transmission assembly in place on the frame. It's not a hard job, just be careful.