Wasatch 5.0

Well I bought my 94 5.0 with about 126k on the odometer, a couple weeks back I decided it would probably be wise to go through and change out all the fluids. I flushed the radiator coolant, changed out the gear oil in the diff, changed out the oil (of course while it's in the air) and also changed out the manual trans fluid.

Here's the problem. Ford calls for Mercon automatic trans fluid, so I drained all of the old out, reinserted the lower drain plug to torque spec, and pumped in the new fresh fluid to spec. I reinstalled the upper fill plug to torque spec. I've driven the car say 100 miles or so since, and noticed the trans fluid has been leaking a bit. About a silver dollar sized puddle on the floor of the garage. So tonight I put her up in the air, and noticed a bunch of grime mixed with trans fluid coming from the area of the upper fill plug. I grabbed to carb spray, cleaned the area up and about died when I saw where the upper fill plug is on the trans housing is about a 3/4 inch crack! Definately the source of the leak. Dammit!

So... in lieu of changing out the trans what can I do? Mainly this crack is limited to the area just on the side of the fill plug facing the back section of the car. I imagine some may have had this happen before. Any info/ideas on a fix would be great.[/align]
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FuzzyDiceRule

JBweld, i think would work, its like bondo, and is stronger than a weld, someone tell me if that wont work

Ninety5five0

The JB weld idea would def. be the cheapest fix, and would prolly work prety well if you can get the area clean enough. I definatly wouldnt make it a permanent fix tho.

Wasatch 5.0

Here's a pic.


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ZachW04Stang

Jb weld isn't going to hold anything together, you could try some just to fill the crack but thetrans fluil is going to make it hard to bond to the surface.

nmerrill

Ouch, thats gonna make it rough with the drain right there. You could try some epoxy or JB weld, if it doesnt work that stuff is cheap anyway. That is where i would start

Wasatch 5.0

Fortunately this is the upper fill plug. It seems after driving with the trans internals spinning the fluid inside the housing it settles down on the inside walls, and some of the residual fluid finds the crack and leaks out. Basically it leaks for the first hour or two after driving, then stops.

This is what I've been thinking. I'm going to drain the fluid again, carefully install the drain plug in the bottom, and slowly pump the fluid in just to the bottom of the fill hole, perhaps an eighth of an inch below it. Then I'll apply some high temp RTV to the threads of the fill plug, install it. Then use a heat gun for a while on the area of the crack, in an attempt to dry everything out. Then use either epoxy or JB Weld on it, and let that dry for however long is needed.

Any thoughts? In the long run the car is probably going to need a new clutch in the next year or two, that would be the perfect time to find another trans for it, or get a more substantial repair made. It sucks though, the trans shifts so smooth right now, and is quiet. : (
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Laughinq_Man

My T5 has that same crack. I rebuilt the trans and didn't notice the crack until I painted the case. My personal suggestion is the silicone method you talked about. But, I'd suggest you not torque it to spec. The crack probably happened because somebody overtightened the plug, so tightening it more is just gonna make it worse. Personally, I'm hoping that since the crack is only on the threads of my trans, and not deeper into the case, it won't spread. I'm just taking a wait and see approach. Worst thing that can happen is the case splits and the tranny pukes it's guts on the ground.

If it does cause the trans to go, my plan is to just get a new T5 and rebuild it since it's not that hard.
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mstngmach

Clen the area really well, abrade it with some course sand paper, then use JB weld. It will be a permanent fix. I had the oil pan rust out on my old F250 diesel, several little pinholes. I drained the oil, sprayed the area liberally with brake cleaner, wire brushed and sanded it, sprayed with brake cleaner again, then covered the area with JB weld. Was still holding with no leaks 2 years later when I sold it.

Wasatch 5.0

Well it's fixed. Drained the trans, cleaned up the area with brake fluid, sanded the area with course sandpaper, and applied JB on the outside, RTV on the inside threads, let all that dry for a day, then filled the trans, applied more rtv to the fill plug threads, installed it, applied another bead of jb, and let that dry for another day. Took it on a 30 mile drive at highway speeds, no leaks. So far so good. Thanks everyone for the info, looks like I won't need a trans for a while. : )
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