Halfway to Bonneville w/AOD trouble!

Wednesday night, 8:40 PM...

I'm currently on the side of Hwy 80 eastbound (in Nevada) @Exit 145 after having just toasted the AOD in my 32 Ford. Seems that the pan bolts keep coming loose after 50 to 100 miles. Yesterday, it happened twice while going over Ebbets pass (south of Lake Tahoe) and down into Carson City, NV.

After tightening each pan bolt 1/4 to 1/2+ turns, it would hold ATF again and I could get back on the road. Sorry for all the cars behind me now covered in ATF, I honestly didn't know it was happening till I saw the smoke.

Thought that there was more to it, so this AM, we dropped the tranny, put in a new seal, replaced the cooler hoses, pan gasket and viola, got 120 miles out of Reno and gassed up, checked the fluid levels and hit the road. Guess what... The fluid disappeared between Lovelock and whereever the hell Exit 145 is.

I just put ATF fluid in again and it goes into gear. Maybe I saved it? Regardless, we're about to get down the hwy and try to get 20 miles and check the bolts, ATF level again, etc. Just trying to get down the road!

Anyone dealt with this before? AOD bolt incessantly loosening? Any ideas? We have 15k miles on this car/tranny without a problem. Hmmm...

BTW, how cool is it to have a laptop with a mobile broadband connection?

We're getting to Wendover tonight if it kills us.

Many thanks, in advance, for your help/guiance/opinions.

Bryan

 

Please change your sign off to "bonneville or new trans !"

 

Funny! You just made me laugh. I needed that.

 

Ughh. Never mind. It's a paperweight.

Back to Reno and will try to salvage the trip ASAP...

 

If they're stainless , they'll loosen up a little over time .

 

Yeaa, I was thinking there was expansion variation between the aluminum case and steel bolts which allowed them to vibrate loose... Weird thing is that they'd loosen enough to loose a quart or more after 60 miles or so. Never had this problem with this car before.

Kinda of a moot point now though. I'll be looking for a new tranny in the AM.

Thx for the feedback!

 

Have u tried thread lock?

 

Hadn't gotten there because it just cropped up yesterday while going over the sierras. Wanted to find the root cause before I tried thread lock. I don't really want to do this on pan bolts anyway.

Maybe the cooler wasn't working well and the tranny overheated enough for the case to expand and then bolts vibrated loose.

Guess we'll never know on this one.

Thx.

 

You can use a semi permanent thread lock if you find that less daunting - should still do the job....

 

Stop by Summit Racing in Reno and buy some "Stage 8" locking pan bolts.

 

The factory bolts come with the powdered threadlock on them. Manual says replace the bolts with every service...

Of course the Manual also says the pan gasket is lifetime...