3L80 Tranny Leak - Troubleshooting

[StackJ]

I have a leak at the front of my tranny. I have not pulled the flywheel cover off yet but I wanted to ask about a friend's suggestion:

He said that sometimes the torque converter may leak or cause a leak. He said to clean things up a bit and try tightening the bolts before pulling. Have you heard of this before?

The reason I ask is I don't want to delay if in fact I need to do a rebuild. Thanks in advance!

 

[juanprado]

front pump seal would be my first instinct.

 

[StackJ]

I'll look at that too! Thanks Juan!

 

[Action]

.....He said that sometimes the torque converter may leak or cause a leak. He said to clean things up a bit and try tightening the bolts before pulling. Have you heard of this before?
......

What bolts would you tighten? The torque converter is bolted to the flywheel, and the trans is bolted to the engine block. I can't see either of those causing a leak if loose.

I would remove the cover, clean it up, run it some, and see where fluid is coming from.

 

[orgnal]

I have a leak at the front of my tranny. I have not pulled the flywheel cover off yet but I wanted to ask about a friend's suggestion:

He said that sometimes the torque converter may leak or cause a leak. He said to clean things up a bit and try tightening the bolts before pulling. Have you heard of this before?

The reason I ask is I don't want to delay if in fact I need to do a rebuild. Thanks in advance!

It is possible that the O-ring on the dip stick tube is leaking. Remove the dog house and shine a flashlight to where the dip stick goes into the transmission. See if that area is wet with transmission fluid. If yes, clean it up as best as you can, drive a little and see if it gets wet again.

McReddy

 

[gcbennet]

They can also leak through the O-ring at the modulator.

 

[papakb]

Early on I had lots of problems with leaks in this area on my 998. Things that I found were the O ring on the dipstick tube was dry and cracked. The flared ridge on the metal tube had cracked at the ridge, the O ring on the modulator valve was leaking and the bolts on the front of the trans pan weren't tight. You didn't mention if your leak was just on the bottom of the trans or coming out of the weep hole on the inspection cover. If that's where it is you could have leaks from the torque converter or the input seal to the transmission pump or a leak from the pump mounting flange.