Minnesotajeff

I’ve been chasing a small drip on my TH400. After much patience and checking I’ve determined that it is the bottom center bolt on the front pump.

I really don’t want to pull the transmission........ I’d rather keep parking over cardboard and live with it. But I’m wondering if anyone has ideas on dealing with this another way. There is obviously not enough room to remove the bolt with the torque converter in place, but I’m wondering about draining the fluid, backing the bolt out enough to clean it up and put some Right Stuff around it and tighten it up again. Think that might stand a chance to seal it up?

any other ideas? I know......... pull my big boy pants up and pull the tranny and do it right......... dang.

coppercutlass

Rubber coated washers pull the trans back a bit slip in and done.

Minnesotajeff

Hmmm..... I like that. I know that those bolts use the rubber sealing washers. I suppose if I slid the tranny back just a bit I could slide the converter forward just enough to get that bolt out?

joe_padavano

Are you REALLY sure it's the bottom bolt and not a leak from the front seal that is running down to the bolt?

Minnesotajeff

Yep, quite certain. It’s dry everywhere else, and I cleaned and dried everything, then kept checking all day yesterday every hour. It is oozing out under that bottom center bolt.

Minnesotajeff

But I’ve been fooled before.........!

coppercutlass

You could use fluid dye and a black light to zero in on the leak . Super cheap kit on amazon.

matt69olds

Leaks around the pump bolts are pretty rare, I’d lean more towards either the pump o-ring or front seal as was mentioned previously.

Assuming you can get to the bolt, it might be worth a roll of the dice to try some sealer. Back out the bolt as far as you can, clean the surface, and apply a little sealer to the bolt and washer, and retighten.

It’s the wrong time of year to look for it, but A/C oil with the fluorescent dye is great for find the exact leak point. Clean the suspect leak area throughly. Add just a little dye to the fluid, run the car for a while, shut it off and use a black light to highlight the dye.

Another potential leak point that’s easily overlooked is the o-ring around the modulator. It’s common for those to leak a little onto the lip of the transmission pan, then drip off the front of the pan rail, right under the pump.