Hello all, Each year while my sons car is in storage, the 400 TH transmission fluid dumps out of it while not in use. Wondering if anybody has the solution to this problem? Thanks in advance!
It's the converter draining and overfilling the transmission. Only thing to really stop it is to start the car every week or two. This refills the converter and keeps it from happening.
As Brad said, when the converter drains down, it overfills the pan.. then areas that are not normally required to seal fluid when the level is above the seal, start to leak. Look for the leak. Passenger side of the trans, dripping off the pan, is almost always the dipstick tube o-ring. Middle of the Driver side is the electrical connector front of the Driver side is the shifter shaft seal. It can also leak from the Pump o/Ring gasket, which would show up under the center of the bellhousing, and the tailshaft extension housings sometimes leak. And of course it can always leak from the pan gasket, although this often shows up when the trans is in operation also. A small pan leak in normal operation, can become a big leak in a storage situation, as the fluid level rises above the pan lip.
Yea, my Reynolds car was doing the exact same thing and that was my thinking as well...converter draining. My fix was a Moroso rubber/steal pan gasket.
My 71 would do the same thing when it would sit for a month. Turned out to be the transmission shifter seal. Most trans shops neglect to replace that seal. A couple hours to fix an hasn't leaked leaked since.
About two years ago, all of the seals were replaced that could be replaced with the transmission in the car. Hopefully he'll be able to just start it more often. He said the last time he started it was November…
Some yolks have a vent hole in the center and some tailshaft housings have an o-ring that often gets overlooked during rebuild. You may want to check these two things. I had a '67 vp 400 that puked fluid every now and then. I never knew why, but, I always suspected that vent hole in the yolk that I discovered after the car got parted. I visited the parents of a girl I was dating and the trans dumped all over their driveway. Her dad didn't much like me or my car after that episode. I can't say I blame him, either.
Rule number one . Never park your car in your dates driveway, especially if she lives with her parents.
Or if she's married! True story. When I worked at a Chevy dealer in the late 80's, one of the mechanics kept having a car come back for a trans leak. Everything was bone dry, but the customer insisted that it was leaking on his garage floor. It turns out that it was his wife's boyfriends car!
