F-Body Europe

What is the proper torque for the tranny(4l60e)oil pan bolts? I went by the Haynes manuel (96-120in lbs) and split the seal resulting in a big puddle during refill. When I took off the bolts they were just about hand tight. Also, with the cork seals do you or do you not need RTV?

A small piece of rubber, about half a cm long and about 2mm wide, fell into the hole where the tranny filter inserts. This occured while the tranny was up-side-down. Will this pass through without a problem or will it get hung up in the valve body?

Lost reverse! Occured without warning, on friday. All forward gears function normally. I read that the seal behind the pump goes and the tranny cannot generate enough pressure to engage reverse. When I pulled the tranny off, there was no sign of a leak. I did the 1st gear test to ensure the clutch packs were still good and braking occured as it should. Can the pump leak internally or is it another problem.

If tranny has to be rebuilt I am not going to go through that again, I will get a t-56 conversion kit. Any help would be great. I am going to redo seal on Saturday. Thanks.

Might wantto out your torque wrench .and see if it is in ft lbs or inlbs also it might need to be recal if it been lying in he tool box. 120 inch bs I believe equals to 12 ft lbs.

Thanks Roy. I was at the craft shop on Ft. Bliss. Really lame compared to the one in Geib, only three lifts and two of them are the pnuematic ones that are older than me. Anywho, the torque wrench they gave me was the bendie kind with the needle, it was in ft lbs. The guy at the tools counter was bending the needle back to zero when he gave it to me. The conversion from inch lbs. to ftlbs is (inch lbs X 0.083= ft lbs). While I was torquing them it seemed like way too much. I did them to 8 ft lbs. When I get the new seal I am going to rent a tool from Checkers Auto Supply, 10% military discount.

BTW if you guys are looking for cheap oem parts go to http://www.rockauto.com they are really great and affordable.

When replacing the filter, did you remove the o-ring type seal where the "tube" part of the filter goes? It should be replaced with a new style one that comes with the new filter. When removing the seal, carefully pry it out with a small screwdriver or similar tool and use caution to avoid scoring the "walls". A bad seal here will prevent the tranny from getting the fluid it needs, could be "sucking" air. Do not use RTV with a cork type gasket. You will get a leak between the two. You can, however, use a gasket "sealer" to help it stick better. Try replacing the o-ring at the filter before rebuilding or replacing the tranny. You have a 50-50 chance of that being the problem. Good luck.

BTW, 120 inch pounds equals 10 foot pounds. It's better if you use a inch-pound torque wrench and avoid the beam type! You saw how they are "calibrated". Ensure that you torque in three stages and "criss-cross" when torquing. When the pan is removed, see if the rails (edges) are warped. If so, a small hammer and a flat piece of wood can help correct it. Also check the bolt holes to make sure that they do not look like "craters". Again, a block of wood and a ball-pein hammer works here. Hope this helps...

Thanks for all of the replies. I haven't had a chance to try the tranny yet due to the before mentioned gasket failure, however I think I will pull the tranny again this weekend and take it to a specialist and see if they can isolate the problem before I need another rebuild. One of the pistons in the valve body was hung up, I am not sure which one it was since I haven't a manuel for the tranny. I have put too much money into it($1,000+) to be screwing around. If this doesn't work I am scrapping the 4L60E and changing over to the 6 speed. A long awaited and eventual $2,000 project.

If anyone has the correct torque for tranny pan bolts pleeeeeaaassseee let me know. If you guys see the owner of Operation Street Legal, ask him, he did the rebuild on my tranny. Thanks.

Well it looks like it is going back to the shop for another rebuild. I really hate this tranny. Thanks for all of your help.