1994 3.0 Trans Pan Gasket

[MrDonivan]

I have been living with a leaking truck for the past year. I finally have the stands/jack/garage space to fix it so last weekend I pulled the Transmission pan, replaced the filter, and gasket with a Duralast Kit from AutoZone.

I am a IT Geek be trade, so definitely a hobbyist mechanic type. Using a website I converted the 75inch Pound torque rating to 6 ft lbs and used my Pittsburg 'Click Type' Torque wrench to snug up the bolts - skipping 3 bolts in the pattern to keep the tension even while snugging it up. I refilled the transmission with 3 quarts, warmed up the engine, shifted it through the gears and added more transmission fluid to correct level.

Transmission pan is leaking again, around the gasket near the front right above the cross member.

I did NOT add any dressing to the gasket prior to installation.
I did NOT coat the gasket with fluid prior to installation.
I did NOT see any nicks, scrapes, gouges in the transmission side of the gasket area.
I did NOT see any bends, nicks, gouges in the pan's gasket surface area.

Tips or thoughts on what to try next? I would really like to have this part resolved before attempting the Valve Cover Gaskets and upper intake gasket.

 

[ratdude747]

First, I assume you made sure the surfaces were clear of old gasket material?

Second, based on the torque conversion you made, I can only assume that you were using a big torque wrench (3/8 or 1/2 drive). For such a low torque these are too big to be accurate at all; this is what the inch/lbs 1/4 drive ones are for. Even so, I'd only use it for things like band adjustments and small engine head gaskets... for tranny pan gaskets, I've used (and seen used) cordless drills, using the drill clutch to even the torque (as the actual torque isn't that critical as long as it's reasonably tight and even all around). It may help to give each bolt a little more torque with a ratchet, in case they were undertorqued.

Last, are you sure it's the pan that's leaking... there are other leak sources as well (output shaft seal, etc.).

PS- I do IT as a hobby (dual cpu workstations and dell latitudes mainly), so I understand how some of this seems so foreign at first.

 

[MrDonivan]

I will choose to ignore the possibility of an output shaft seal, since that scares the piss outta me for now. But I will degrease the outside of the pan and as high above the pan as I can to see if fluid appears ABOVE the gasket - making me hate life.

I will also add a couple more pounds on the bolts as well.

Will see how it goes I guess.