Hey all, have been lurking a little but haven't don't much wrenching lately, been busy working on a house we recently purchased. Has a nice workshop area, getting that all set up, and will be moving the dart over soon. I have had this issue for a few years, where when I park it to keep it out of the Midwest salt for the winter, it leaks all the transmission fluid out. I would like to finally fix this, and was wondering where to start poking around/likely culprits. The good news is the house mortgage will be less than our combined rent. Once we get the house a little more finished I will have more $ to put in the dart. We are wanting to use it in wedding pictures in November so seems like a good time to replace the seat covers and foam that have gone from bad to terrible in the last 10 years. Thanks!

Congratulations on many fronts! The 904 in my brother's Duster does the same think. I haven;t torn it apart yet to track down the specific leak, but my guess is that the torque converter fills with fluid when the engine is running and then when the motor is shut off the converter slowly drains back into the pan and raises the fluid level. I woudl first check the dipstick tube O ring, then the gear selector shaft seal, then the pan gasket, then the front pump seal.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I too, have had 904's grace me with the tell-tale puddle over the long term. I haven't closely investigated yet, but just from a once over, it appears to me that the dipstick tube seal is the culprit.

Roger

I second Reed's comment.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

ALL! Reed is right on! That is where most of the fluid would come from, or the front seal.

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1964 Dart GT

Thanks! Most if not all gets dumped haha, will look into it, the seal gets better throughout the summer then after sitting a bit dumps it. Will look into it soon, thanks for the input!

Congratulations on the house and impending wedding plans. Where does the puddle form? The selector shaft and speedo cable can leak as well as the rear seal.

SAm

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If it's an early cable-shifted 904, it can also leak from every cable.

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Somehow I ended up owning three 1964 slant six A-bodies. I race one of them.
Escape Velocity Racing

Sorry for the lack of details, it is a 67 dart gt, I have been coming here for over 10 years and forget not everyone remembers every car! It's sitting on a puddle now so maybe I'll put down card board and put a little in to try to track it down. Would like to avoid a full fluid dump on my new (to me) garage floor...

I'd certainly look at external leak sources first. While a worn or hardened pump seal can leak, it'll usually leak all the time, often worse when running. A contributing factor to a 904 that piddles when sitting is wear in the oil pump bushing that supports the torgue converter snout. The fluid can't drain out of the converter if air can't get in. From there fluid will "overflow" out the vent hole. Rplacement will require pulling the pump.

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63 Valiant Wagon
225 - 4 bbl

I would inspect the shift select seal area first... that is a common "sitting" leak point.
Note: There are two seals at the shift selector "tower"... an inner and the outer one, that is easy to see.
DD

Are we to imply that you want to use the Dart not only for pictures, but for transport also?

Gosh, you could save yourself a lot of time during wedding planning and house fixing season... leave it alone, have a flatbed tow it to the wedding site the night before, he would be much appreciative of the lower drip rate on his truck...

Seriously though, congrats on all fronts! Sounds like a marvelous set of changes.

- Erik

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Lots of early Valiants and Barracudas have crossed my path.
Also a handful of other toys for variety now and then.

Probably both! We also have had a nice mild July here and I want to get it out more. I think I will put cardboard under it and put some fluid in to try to get a good idea where it's dripping from. Thabus all!

I thought that was the problem on one of my recent purchases... Turned out some garage or Previous owner installed a neutral safety switch without tightening it all the way... Waay easier to fix than putting those 2 seals in in the car.


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

I have a new neutral safety switch needing to go in anyway, maybe I'll try that too. I got some Lucas oil stuff that is supposed to help restore old seals, seems like mine are capable of holding fluid once they have been sitting in fluid for a bit. The non profit I work for has had our fundraiser at the Lucas Estate the last two years so figured I'd try the easy way first.