What do you think about me trying a seal up kit for my super leaky hydramatic transmission? I am putting in about 3 quarts of transmission fluid every couple of days. It shifts fine when it is full....so must be a leak????? It has also decided not to run longer than 10 minutes the past two mornings. Then after fuel filter change, cleaning the spark plugs (getting new ones today) and brake cleaning stuff in the carb, ran fine, both days. Someone said maybe the float is sticking in the carb.

 

3 Quarts!

That's alot of fluid to be missing every couple days. You should have a pool of fluid on your driveway if that's the case.

I'm thinking maybe your transmission pan bolts are just not tight...

Wipe down the transmission with a rag, wait a couple hours and see where it's leaking from. That'll give you a better idea of the problem rather than just dumping leak-stop fluid into a 60 year old transmission.

 

my 'driver' has no less than 5 leaks: Side pan gasket, side pan gear selector shaft o-ring, pinion seal, pan gasket, and speedometer cable input...I was quoted $350 from a local shop to fix all of them, including the parts - with the exception of the front pump, that should encompass what can leak on them...the 'kit' is a lot of money for a lot of internal seals that probably aren't contributing to your external leaks...

Incidentally, I'm still in the "Thinking about it" stage as to whether or not I'll have it fixed or do it myself...I already attempted the side pan and it's still leaking - currently I park over a tarp in lieu of turning my driveway into a superfund site.

The "float sticking" is usually a long shot - I'd be suprised if that was the case - being as it's after a short warm up period it's more likely a choke related thing - your choke should be opened by then - if it's not, or if it is sticking, it would cause those symptoms - that's external and usually easy to address - if you eliminate the choke as a possibility, then maybe it is time for a carburetor rebuild - kits are reasonable and the carbs are not too complicated - if you're unsure, take lots of disassembly pics - do you have a service manual?

 

My dad mentioned the float was not likely as well. I would like to do as much by myself as I can, mostly because I am learning about cars and am totally new, so things make more sense when you take them apart and see how it all works. However, I realize that a transmission may be a bigger task than I am ready for. So, I may at least let someone else diagnose. I park over one of those big pans to save the driveway for now. I realize that leaks happen with old cars, but when I started the three quarts, thought I better figure that one out. Transmission fluid isn't cheap when you are buying that much! As far as the weird morning starts go, I would love to rebuild the carb and see if that helps. Otherwise, I am running out of ideas considering everything else I have changed out now.

 

Thanks so much! I believe the choke was the problem! Right after I read your reply, my dad called and said the same thing. He walked me through a few things and now all seems to be well. However, he is mailing me a "better" carb as I have a not-so-good one(Carter).... By-the-way, this was my first completely solo (besides the over the phone help) "fix". So, I am proud no-matter how minor.

 

Your transmission is not leaking. It is pouring if it is 3 quarts every 2 days. Hopefully it is something as simple as loose pan bolts. If you are lucky, you might be able to get it to where it is just a leak. Without a rebuild, it will probably be impossible to get all the leaks stopped. Consider this thing is 56 years old and could have been rebuilt several times. It has been so long since GM has used these transmissions, that there are not many people left around who know anything about them. Good luck on this one.

 

Thanks. I would love to have it rebuilt....but like you said, finding someone to do it could be a problem.