Hello,
I recently noticed a drip under my car of transmission fluid.
We have a few low spots in our driveway where we have scrapped a few times over the past few months. I look underneath and the transmission pan has a few scrap marks where I think it might have taken the blunt of the scrapes.
I checked the bolts to the pan and a few are tight but many of them just spin. I assume this is my problem. Can I just get some new bolts and that will fix my problem…new pan…?
Is the pan leaking? is the seal leaking?
Stripped out bolts is not likely to be fixed by new bolts or a new pan. If the pan itself has a hole in it, then yes- it needs to be replaced. But the transmission is very likely aluminium, and it sounds like some of the bolt holes are stripped out. These will need tapped and larger bolts installed (or helicoiled,) - assuming there is room to accomplish this.
If the gasket or pan ins’t leaking, and it’s not due for a service- then leave it alone and find out where the actual leak is coming from. Transmission pan gasket bolts don’t need to be torqued very hard, so you may be able to get by with a couple not-as-tight-as-they-should-be ones- as long as they aren’t leaking.
See if you can figure out where the leak is. You can plan your attack from there. If the pan bolts aren’t tight enough it could be leaking around the gasket. That happened several years ago with a company car I was driving. Take out the bolts that just spin and see if you can find some self tapping ones that will fit. You want something slightly larger than the old bolts. Don’t overtighten them or you’ll be back where you started.