16 Jul 12 17:10, Mark Hofmann wrote to Roy Witt:



 RW>> The rear seal area isn't much of a problem to fix, pull the drive
 RW>> shaft and replace the seal. The front seal requires the tranny be
 RW>> pulled and the pump removed. When you take it that far, you might as
 RW>> well re-build the trans too.

 MH> When I said rear seal, I meant the one on the back of the engine that
 MH> faces the transmission (in the Durango).  It appears there is a bit
 MH> of oil leaking between the rear of the motor and the transmission.
 MH> Not much, but enough to make a mess.

Did you try to re-torque the pan bolts? Sometimes they will work loose
enough to allow pressurized (piston blowby) gas to force airborne oil
(crank churned) to blow by the gasket. Be careful, don't overtighten those
bolts or you'll twist one off. Just snug them up with a 1/4 drive socket.
A 3/8 drive will put too much torque ability in your hands.

 MH> Yes, if you are going to separate the transmission from the motor,
 MH> you might as well do more stuff while it is apart.  The motor still
 MH> runs great, but as it ages, these leaks are showing up here and
 MH> there.  It also has a slight leak in the power steering pump
 MH> somewhere.

The latter is probably from the low pressur sidee, which has a slip on
hose and a clamp. Check that one. The rest are seated pipe fittings that
may be loose...check those too.

 RW>> If it gets worse, do the above. A long screw-driver or similar prys
 RW>> the seal out and a few taps with a plastic hammer puts in a new
 RW>> seal. Grease the exterior of the front yoke before you put it back
 RW>> in to lube the seal before driving the car. I'd also check the front
 RW>> yoke for holes that may exist, allowing ATF from the output shaft to
 RW>> leak past the yoke.

 MH> It might be possible to just separate the transmission away far
 MH> enough to do the repair without taking everything out.  I'd have to
 MH> look at it more. I'm not too concerned yet, since the leak isn't at a
 MH> serious level.

If it's a rear seal, you might be able to re-seal the pan by using one
of the gaskets made for doing such a job. It's all one piece and there is
no gasket alignment problems when you do it. If the rear seal is like the
87 and newer GM seals, it's a one piece and can be switched by backing off
the trans and then removing the flywheel to get at it. But, most shops
will remove the trans to do that job.

 RW>> I asked if they had done the attic thing before and they said it was
 RW>> no problem, as long as they could get in and out quick enough.

 MH> That is the key.  I went up in the attic did my thing (make an
 MH> adjustment to a damper), and get right back down again and check it
 MH> out from the vent. Certainly not the weather that I would be
 MH> installing insulation in the attic.

I'd wait until an hour or so before dawn to start that work. Be done by
8am or so and not be bothered with the heat of the day. The nice thing
about Texas is that at night, the temps always cool into the mid to high
70s and the heat builds all day until around 4-5pm and then starts to cool
again. i.e. yesterday's high was 92F at 5pm and it was down to 80F by 7pm.

 RW>> According to roof vent officiendos, there shouldn't be any 'end'
 RW>> vents in the attic. If you had/have them they should be blocked off.
 RW>> The natural tendency for air to flow up when heated draws cooler
 RW>> outside air through the soffets and will lower the attic temps a lot
 RW>> better. Also close off any interior or garage access ports.
 RW>> Including that fan.

 MH> Yeah, older homes have those side vents.  The roof peak vents make
 MH> more sense since heat rises and between the soffets and peak vents,
 MH> it will create a good flow for the heat to escape.

You got it.

 RW>> I know that the vaulted ceiling in our living room used to make the
 RW>> room unliveable during summer (the AC couldn't keep up very well).
 RW>> The peak vent makes it a whole lot cooler these days.

 MH> We have a vaulted ceiling in the bedroom, and one of those really
 MH> high ceilings in the foyer.  Painting that thing was a challenge.

I'll bet heating it in the winter can get expensive too. I'd put a large
ceiling fan in it and force that heat down the walls in winter.

 MH> Especially the high parts that I needed to use my little giant ladder
 MH> (with a leg leveler - one on each step) to get to the high spots when
 MH> cutting in.

I'd have a professional paint that. You youngsters can have the fun of
climbing tall ladders.

My dad at 74yo thought he could use the ladder he had leaning up against
the garage to get over the fence, rather than walk around. He also thought
he had the strength to do that while he was on the ground and scaled the
ladder while he was upside down, but gravity changed his mind for him and
he landed on his arse under it. That's when he called a roofer and had
them come out and fix his roof. I could just imagine him doing that from
the 3rd story of his house.

                R\%/itt


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