Transmission Leak

[JCrank]

I have a leak on my 93 518. It appears to be at or near the bell housing.

Front Seal ? External line couplings ? What is the most common ?

About 133K miles.

I've been inside manual trannys, but never been into an auto except for filter changes and adjusting the bands.

Should a person with moderate to skilled mechanical ability attempt an overhaul ?

Is there a specific service manual for the 518 and where to find one ?

Thanks,
Jon

[Philip]

ATSG has manuals for any type of auto.

http://atsg.biz/

The factory service manual has good instructions on rebuilding also. I have heard the ATSG manual looks just like a reprint of the FSM. Geno's garage has FSM for our trucks.

Is someone has let the truck set and idle in park a lot it is most likely the front seal. A Dodge trany doesn't supply fluid to any circuits in park.

[JCrank]

Phillip,

Thanks for your reply. I have a factory service manual, but didn't yet look into it in regards to transmission overhaul....

I don't know about the previous owner and their habits. I know the truck set for almost two years because the previous owner "gave up on repairs" which thru everyone's help on TDR, I solved the big issue of a PCM dump and no charge situation with the external regulator fix. I've only put about 15K on the truck since I've had it. Been in the tranny once to change the fluid, filter and adjust the bands. Replaced the "soft" lines to the cooler.

I just like to think things thru and feel somewhat knowledgeable before treading in new territory....

Any suggestions on source for the overhaul kit ?

[Philip]

On a overhaul kit you can go from mild to wild. Mild means stock replacement parts kit from NAPA is around $260 for the master kit the last time I priced one.

Or you can go wild with full kelvar kit which will triple the price at the least.

Then the converter is the same. A rebuilt stock replacement which might mean a loose one like Dodge installed for a few hundred or a custom one for 1k or so.

I always recommend going to a newer trans with a lockup converter. Other than the cost of the later trans with the correct adapter the basic cost of the rebuild will be the same between the trans you have and a lockup trans. A twin disk towing converter from hughes runs around $500.

With a lockup trans you might need driveshaft work also. The lockup trans is longer.

[JCrank]

Thankfully I found the leak this afternoon and didn't have to pull the tranny to find it. I got under the truck and phone the leak to be one of the hard lines that have a coupling slightly behind the bell housing. There are two connections here, both hard and soft lines. Seems that the brass flare nut had rubbed against harder material until it had rubbed through. It was only about a 15 min. fix and a trip to the local hardware store.

I also checked the other fittings in the same location and they were fine. Went a step further and covered the lines using an old radiator hose and wire ties.....

Thanks everyone !

[Philip]

Glad it was an easy fix.

It not fun droping a trans. Even a D series like you have.