I failed at replacing transmission fluid. What is this going to cost me?

[bryanl]

self tapping bolt?

Too risky because slivers of aluminum could fall into the transmission.

I vote for the rubber plug, too.

 

[Pulsar]

I think it's a boss until you machine it into a threaded hole.

Nope. Still a boss. A boss is the small protuberence in the casting.

<==== does head & block machining for a living.

 

[JCH13]

I think it's a boss until you machine it into a threaded hole.

From the wiki link:

Boss A projection or an enlarged section of a casting through which a hole may be machine.[sic]

 

[LTC8K6]

From the wiki link:

That was already posted, and I used a smiley, and wrote "I think", and still people are trying to correct me. :biggrin:

 

[JCH13]

That was already posted, and I used a smiley, and wrote "I think", and still people are trying to correct me. :biggrin:

On another forum everyone posts sarcasm in purple colored text... it helps when your sarcasm meter is borked, as mine clearly is!

 

[DrPizza]

It's called a boss. ^_^

Pretty good advice thus far.

If it were me I would want to replace the housing or otherwise repair the damage. Drill/tapping isn't too scary, it helps to use grease on the drill/tap to catch metal chips.

I have had really bad experiences with expanding rubber plugs, but YMMV.

Good luck.

I've had occasional problems with the expanding rubber plugs when plugging something that's under pressure (rotted out freeze plugs on my old lebaron); but they've always worked just fine when there wasn't a lot of pressure.

 

[skyking]

That's why I think it would be a long term fix. Not only is it not under a lot of pressure, it is not a really "wet" location either. I have the same trans in our honda.

 

[JCH13]

I've had rubber plugs rot when in contact with certain oils/fuels. Diesel being the most recent failure. I would want to make REAL sure it was compatible with ATF or whatever transmission oil was being used.

 

[Hmongkeysauce]

So if I get an expansion plug, should I get it just a tad bigger than the whole?

On another note, I got around calling some shops near me. One owner wanted $2600 for a new transmission installed. He even went as far as telling me to commit some insurance fraud so I wouldn't have to pay a dime. I kind of gave up hope after that one phone call.

 

[sontakke]

Anything which will prevent the leak will work. You are never going to open it again and add fluid from there.

 

[Fritzo]

You can get a broken bolt extractor kit for $20, or a garage might be able to remove it for you for around $30 or so. Something similar happened to my oil pan bolt once. I was able to tap into it with an extractor bit and then get it out.

 

[LTC8K6]

You can get a broken bolt extractor kit for $20, or a garage might be able to remove it for you for around $30 or so. Something similar happened to my oil pan bolt once. I was able to tap into it with an extractor bit and then get it out.

The problem is not a broken bolt, but a broken boss on the transmission case that the bolt used to screw in to. Basically, it's a hole in the top of the case that needs to be plugged.

 

[Fritzo]

The problem is not a broken bolt, but a broken boss on the transmission case that the bolt used to screw in to. Basically, it's a hole in the top of the case that needs to be plugged.

Huh. Looked like a bolt to me. If it's not leaking anything, I wouldn't worry about it. If it is leaking, I'd get it to a garage so it can be drained and welded.

You COULD try filling it with epoxy, but without knowing what that hole is for or if it would actually hold, I have no idea if that would work.

 

[JCH13]

If you choose to go the epoxy route, I strongly encourage the use of auto-mixing applicators like this:

Life sucks so much less in basically every way when using these.

 

[Squisher]

I have to believe there was some imperfection in the casting that allowed you to do this. It seems there are different shades of discoloration where that break is showing that some of the break was there for a while. I think deadken's epoxy fix might be the easiest to try first. It could be welded, but that would likely require dropping the trans.

Late '90's GM trans have these fill ports, but the screw in plugs are plastic. It'd be nice if you can find a plastic plug to replace the one stuck in the broken collar, but you'll have to play attention to the size and thread pitch. With a plastic plug you'll won't need the amount of effort to unscrew them in the future.

 

[evident]

If you choose to go the epoxy route, I strongly encourage the use of auto-mixing applicators like this:

Life sucks so much less in basically every way when using these.

and dont ever catch a whiff of it. god it smells gross. i mixed it in my closed garage once and i wanted to puke

 

[LTC8K6]

Huh. Looked like a bolt to me. If it's not leaking anything, I wouldn't worry about it. If it is leaking, I'd get it to a garage so it can be drained and welded.

You COULD try filling it with epoxy, but without knowing what that hole is for or if it would actually hold, I have no idea if that would work.

The epoxy would enter the transmission. The bolt is not there, and can't be put there. The case itself is broken where the bolt would go.

 

[JCH13]

Rather than just pouring epoxy in there, a plug of some sort should be glued in. Or so it would seem...

 

[evident]

if you drill out the bolt, wouldnt the fluid help flush the shavings out of the transmission while you are doing it?

 

[LTC8K6]

if you drill out the bolt, wouldnt the fluid help flush the shavings out of the transmission while you are doing it?

I'm not sure why it's so hard to grasp that there's no bolt there...?

 

[bamx2]

Leave it alone (no drilling or extractor etc). Cover it with a quarter sized piece of metal (cut from aluminum can) glued on with epoxy putty or JB weld (epoxy w/filler). As others have mention, filling the transmission through the dipstic tube will be fine.

 

[PottedMeat]

I'm not sure why it's so hard to grasp that there's no bolt there...?

it's just the way the picture was taken

to me it looks like either:
1. bolt sheared off and you're looking at the top
or
2. transmission fluid surface
or
3. some metal baffle or little chamber that goes to the rest of the transmission

 

[Squisher]

Rather than just pouring epoxy in there, a plug of some sort should be glued in. Or so it would seem...

I was talking about gluing the boss that broke off back on, not filling up the top of his trans with epoxy.

 

[LTC8K6]

it's just the way the picture was taken

to me it looks like either:
1. bolt sheared off and you're looking at the top
or
2. transmission fluid surface
or
3. some metal baffle or little chamber that goes to the rest of the transmission

The part of the trans case that the bolt screws into, has broken. Imagine you are tightening a bolt into a nut, and the nut cracks in half.

It's simple to understand, and hard to fix.

 

[BUTCH1]

Should be able to drill enough for a tap and extract the plug without drilling completely through the plug. Then replace it with a new one. Hours work tops.

I would agree with this idea but for the chance of metal shavings falling into the tranny, IMO JB weld "stick" version is your friend here, it comes in a plastic tube and you break off a chunk and roll it around in you fingers for a bit, (to mix the 2 parts) then use as needed, since it's not in a liquid form it wont fall into the opening into the tranny, then just fill with the dipstick hole.