OK I've heard to words of wisdom on this.  Reuse the old fluid but filter it first(with what?) and you'll end up losing only 4-5 quarts so just use new stuff.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

Re-using the old fluid is gunna depend on what it looks like to start with. If there's crap in the pan(piles of it), then there's no real guarantee that the trans isn't gunna take a doo-doo whether you change the fluid or not. However, putting NEW fluid in a trans that is questionable is a sure fire way to accelerate the failure. Hence the suggestion to change the filter, and put the same old fluid back in, and top off with new fluid as needed. If yours has been leaking for a while, and you've been adding new fluid to keep it filled, it might be fine.
The real question is, does it work WELL, when full of fluid? NO slippy shifts, or banging when you put it in gear?
If it fails on yer trip, you can certainly tow it to me....in TEXAS....I'll fix it up fer ya....

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I changed the gasket and reused the 3-4 quarts of tranny fluid.  Threw the whole shabang back in, crude and all like you said, accidentally missed getting a fly out of the fluid and it went right down the fill tube.  Seems to be having a little problem and making some odd noises, you have any ideas?

|UPDATED|8/19/2014 1:50:49 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

The problem is that flies are ONLY used in Chrysler transmissions.....Wasps are used in GM trannys....
Yer gunna hafta get that dang thing outta there....get one of those Texaco Fly Strips, roll it up, and run it down thru the filler tube, and try to get that fly stuck on it. Otherwise, yer gunna hafta cram a roach down in there and wait for it to find the fly, and eat it.....the roach will find it's own way back out, so don't worry about leaving it in there.....


Or....you can pull the pan back off and fish it out....that's what we call Fly fishin.....

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

OK, I threw a roach down after the fly.  Seems the roach did more damage than the fly as I have another leak.  Maybe the pan leak was hiding the other leak(s).  I'm gonna take a guess at the cable adjust seal.  I'll clean everything even better tomorrow and check it out after a ride.  Hopefully this won't interfere with the CAC/NCM trip...I leave this Thursday.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

Dadgummit....
BEst to clean all around as much as you can, drive it some, and check to see if you can find the source. If it is a small leak, then it shouldn't be an issue for your trip(s), as long as you keep an eye on the fluid level.  Only three places it can leak on the driver side, and that's from the selector shaft seal(shifter), the electrical connector for the lock-up converter, and the governor cover.
On the passenger side, there's quite a few places it can leak. Cooler lines, filler tube seal, TV cable seal, the accumulator cover, and the modulator.
Then of course you have you major issue leaks...from the FRONT area...you really do NOT want to see fluid seeping/leaking from there....


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I really don't care where it's leaking from as long as it doesn't interrupt this trip.  I had planned on having the tranny rebuilt, at least, or replaced outright this winter.  I would love to have an overdrive gear so who knows what the final decision on that will be.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

Next time the pan is off, put a straight edge on it and look for low spots. 

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yeah...or maybe I didn't torque it in the right sequence.  You know maybe I went around the pan instead of criss-cross...I'm a dope...a very tired dope.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

Well, if you had put a German Cockroach in there instead of a common cockroach, your problems would be over.  A German cockroach would have fixed the leak before he left. 




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Dave......is it STILL leaking from the pan, as far as you can tell?You dint really specify...just said it still had a leak....
Still, you need to VERIFY where the leak is......almost every place on that trans that can leak will run down, and appear to be leaking from the pan....
Clean/dry it off really well with some brake cleaner....the source will be much easier to find that way. Always look above where the main drip/seepage is to be sure it is not something above leaking down....

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Cleaned her up nice and purty(Joel's words not mine) and took hr for a quick spin around the block.  No faster than 25 mph and it looks like It's leaking from the pan, passenger side.  The only reason that I'm not sure is how far back the fluid is present on the exhaust.  Starts near the front of the pan and goes a little past the tranny mount.  I used a rubber gasket (which I hate).  I'm going to replace it with a cork gasket and RTV.  Got my kids coming over to help because all this up and down is killing my back.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

I don't see any leaking from above the pan but boy, there sure is lots of smoke from burn off around the exhaust and I can still see some leakage from the pan.  I'm taking it in tomorrow to have the pro's look at it.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.

Anything else "bugging" you???

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(click to see a larger image)

I'll be there, Dan. We made it to our hotel around 11pm. Saw some of the gang this morning at the fair grounds. Heading to dinner a little later. I have pics on face book.

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Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!!      Long and short term leases available.