Tranny pan won't seal

[rdelling]

I have a 2000 TJ with a 3 speed auto and after one of my wheeling trips, the tranny pan started leaking. I have gone through 5 gaskets, 20 qts of fluid, and a trip to the transmission shop, and we still can't get it to seal. I even bought a new OEM pan with gasket and it won't seal. It is leaking around the back edge as far as we can tell. There are no cracks in the transmission where the pan mounts. Has anyone had this probelm or do you have any ideas what is wrong or what I can do to get it to seal. Is there a liquid gasket that I can try?

[nhbob]

Does the auto have a vent? (the manual does) If it does and it got plugged during this wheeling trip, likely it is forcing fluid out the area of least resistance.

Bob

[00tjdriver]

i had trouble keeping mine sealed. i figured out i was overtightning the pan bolts.
i have a skyjacker pan on my 32rh and i use the stock gasket. every now and then
it will start to leak in the rear of the pan so i just tighten the bolts in the rear a little and
it works fine.
there is a vent hole on the pump, but its inside the tranny(obviously). from what the mech at the stealership told me, there is no vent tube on the 32rh and i should avoid water at all costs.

is it shifting normal? it could be building up to much pressure.

[WHEELeR]

use black permatex rtv, no gasket

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by rdelling

I have a 2000 TJ with a 3 speed auto and after one of my wheeling trips, the tranny pan started leaking. I have gone through 5 gaskets, 20 qts of fluid, and a trip to the transmission shop, and we still can't get it to seal. I even bought a new OEM pan with gasket and it won't seal. It is leaking around the back edge as far as we can tell. There are no cracks in the transmission where the pan mounts. Has anyone had this probelm or do you have any ideas what is wrong or what I can do to get it to seal. Is there a liquid gasket that I can try?

Keep the pan but get the OEM gasket from the dealer that is very similar to the OEM oil pan gasket. It is a silicone molded or similar and has hard inserts around each bolt hole that won't let you over compress the raised ribs the gasket surface has. And it's reuseable.

If that gasket leaks, you have other issues.

[Knuckelhead]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

Keep the pan but get the OEM gasket from the dealer that is very similar to the OEM oil pan gasket. It is a silicone molded or similar and has hard inserts around each bolt hole that won't let you over compress the raised ribs the gasket surface has. And it's reuseable.

If that gasket leaks, you have other issues.

Yep...

[rdelling]

That gasket is leaking It is even leaking while parked in the garage?

Originally Posted by mrblaine

Keep the pan but get the OEM gasket from the dealer that is very similar to the OEM oil pan gasket. It is a silicone molded or similar and has hard inserts around each bolt hole that won't let you over compress the raised ribs the gasket surface has. And it's reuseable.

If that gasket leaks, you have other issues.

[Knuckelhead]

Originally Posted by rdelling

That gasket is leaking It is even leaking while parked in the garage?

Are you sure that the fluid isn't coming from the weep hole between the transmission and the transfer case?...

[rdelling]

Nope, it is leaking at the rear edge of the gasket on the passenger side!

Originally Posted by Knuckelhead

Are you sure that the fluid isn't coming from the weep hole between the transmission and the transfer case?...

[dbbd1]

After a hard day off-road (and a tree limb to the tranny pan), I had the same issue. A few attempts later, I had to replace the tranny pan. But, for the $10 it was well worth it.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by rdelling

That gasket is leaking It is even leaking while parked in the garage?

Well, you have something else wrong. I've had my driveshaft peel the lip of the pan down and cause a serious leak with that gasket. Took a socket and a hammer, pounded the lip sorta back into place and stopped the leak.

You can always try the Mopar diff silicone. If that doesn't seal it, throw the trans away.

[Millican]

Originally Posted by WHEELeR

use black permatex rtv, no gasket

Not a good idea. ATF-4 will eat regular permatex RTV. You can buy the Mopar Black RTV, it is designed to hold up to ATF fluids.

[Millican]

Originally Posted by rdelling

That gasket is leaking It is even leaking while parked in the garage?

When it leaks out enough add a bottle of transmission stop leak. I went through the same thing with my Dakota and nothing stopped it from leaking, even with that expensive OEM gasket. The bottle of stop leak did the trick though.

[silver97tj]

hi all

do you have a pic of weep hole and or how to indentify it?

This would be GREATLY appreciated! I have lived with a small leak for years

thansk......

[ATXZJ]

I kept running into this same issue with the addition of a deep pan on my 3spd. The pan came with an OEM gasket that leaked. I purchased another OEM gasket that also leaked when driving, sitting, whatever, it leaked. Said to hell with it and went old school. I grabbed a cork gasket and some indian head gasket sealer.


Never leaked once, even under the worst conditions.


Installed three deep pans on other TJ with this same method and they never leaked.

[rdelling]

So I took the pan off again and checked both the pan and tranny with a straight edge, all were flat. Put it back on and still wont seal. Not only is it leaking from the pan, but I now see that it is also leaking from the inspection plate, and there is a pretty good vibration I am getting when the tranny is in 3rd gear. I am guessing that the transmission is shot.

Any ideas where the best place I can get a replacement 3 speed auto for 2000 TJ is?

Is there a better than OEM tranny that wouldn't be a pain to install. I have the 6 cyl and an Atlas transfer case. My current transmission has 70,000 miles on it and has held up to some pretty hard wheeling.

Does anyone know brand and make the 3spd auto was in the 2000 TJ

[offcamberjeep]

the tranny is the chrysler 999 or also known as the 32RH
Lube locker has a tranny gasket that should solve your problem
http://www.lubelocker.com/
give that a try.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by rdelling

Any ideas where the best place I can get a replacement 3 speed auto for 2000 TJ is?

Is there a better than OEM tranny that wouldn't be a pain to install. I have the 6 cyl and an Atlas transfer case. My current transmission has 70,000 miles on it and has held up to some pretty hard wheeling.

Does anyone know brand and make the 3spd auto was in the 2000 TJ

Your tranny is a 32RH which is a member of the Chrysler Torqueflite 999 family. I would just find one out of a junked lower mileage TJ (2002 or older with the 4.0L engine) and install it. This particular transmission has a sterling reputation for reliability and toughness so don't be too quick to want to replace it with something else. Its only negative is that it's a 3-speed which on the trail is no drawback at all. There is no aftermarket transmission or Jeep transmission that is a direct bolt-in replacement, I would just install a used replacement if yours is truly in bad condition. Why you can't get it sealed is beyond me, I've had to seal my 32RH's pan three times and only had a minor pan leakage once that was fixed with a little RTV on the seal.

[rdelling]

OK, so I got frustrated today because all of you said it shouldn't be leaking, the dealer and transmission shop couldn't come up with a good reason and said it has to be leaking somewhere else. I took the belly pan and the transmission mount off so I had a clear view of the entire pan. Low and behold, the pan wasn't leaking. The leak is at the rear of the transmission where the adapter mates up to the back of the transmission. There is a gasket there and it is leaking out the bottom of the gasket. The fluid was coming down and hitting the top of the pan gasket and traveling around the edge making it look like the pan was leaking. I couldn't see this because the transmission mount bracket was in the way.

The vibration I was having was a rear driver side bent Dana 60 axle from the same trip that the leak started on.

I suspect the added weight from the Atlas and the beating I put on the rig on the last trip caused the leak. I tried to tighten the bolts to the adapter, but it is still leaking. I guess I am going to have to change it. Should I use an OEM gasket, or is there a better aftermarket one I should use while I have the adapter off?

Has anyone else ever had the adapter gasket leak on them?

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by rdelling

OK, so I got frustrated today because all of you said it shouldn't be leaking, the dealer and transmission shop couldn't come up with a good reason and said it has to be leaking somewhere else. I took the belly pan and the transmission mount off so I had a clear view of the entire pan. Low and behold, the pan wasn't leaking. The leak is at the rear of the transmission where the adapter mates up to the back of the transmission. There is a gasket there and it is leaking out the bottom of the gasket. The fluid was coming down and hitting the top of the pan gasket and traveling around the edge making it look like the pan was leaking. I couldn't see this because the transmission mount bracket was in the way.

The vibration I was having was a rear driver side bent Dana 60 axle from the same trip that the leak started on.

I suspect the added weight from the Atlas and the beating I put on the rig on the last trip caused the leak. I tried to tighten the bolts to the adapter, but it is still leaking. I guess I am going to have to change it. Should I use an OEM gasket, or is there a better aftermarket one I should use while I have the adapter off?

Has anyone else ever had the adapter gasket leak on them?

Take a closer look. If it's leaking at the trans tailshaft adapter, it may be the input seal for the Atlas.