1972 Plymouth Fury III - Transmission leaks from shift lever

[MBar]

Found a puddle under the car... cleaned up and waited...now it looks like where the shift lever goes into the transmission on the driver side... I googled and found this on moparts.com:
-----------------------------------------------
""Take the kickdown and selector lever off the trans (both pinch bolts) and take a sharp pick to work the selector shaft seal out of it's hole and up the shaft. It's a press fit, so jab the pick through the top of the old seal and use leverage.

Take the new seal, lube it a little and slide it over the shaft until it sits evenly on the trans case, not cocked. Take a deep socket the same size as the seal and slide it over the shaft to rest on top of the seal. Tap the socket until the top of the seal is flush with the trans case. Re-install selector/kickdown levers.

I have done many this way. The worst I have had to do is un-bolt the trans crossmember to drop the end of the trans down for a little more room to work.""
-----------------------------------------------
I just finished my first-ever pan drop and filter change/band adjustment. I really don't want to drain all that fresh new fluid.... plus, I am a little scared of the valve body...
advice please?

 

[thrashingcows]

I have done this job several times and there was no way that seal was coming out from the outside....no way no how. Had to drop the pand and fluid, drop the valve body and then use a long punch to get the seal out. Getting the new seal in place was a bit tricky too, I had to use a socket on the top then a C-clamp and some large washers on the under side and slowly press the seal in place.

 

[Dan Scully]

I have done this job several times and there was no way that seal was coming out from the outside....no way no how. Had to drop the pand and fluid, drop the valve body and then use a long punch to get the seal out. Getting the new seal in place was a bit tricky too, I had to use a socket on the top then a C-clamp and some large washers on the under side and slowly press the seal in place.

With the correct tool you can do all from the top.

 

[commando1]

That's where mine started leaking like a sieve.
Remembering all the past posts about what a PITA it is to get to that seal, I said fuggit and decided since the tranny has to come down (ideally), I'll use it as an opportunity to just simply rebuild the whole tranny.
A twelve hundred dollar drip....

 

[azblackhemi]

With the correct tool you can do all from the top.
View attachment 237500

Yup, this tool works great.

 

[MBar]

With the correct tool you can do all from the top.
View attachment 237500

Is there a link to the tool? And to the procedure.

 

[78Brougham]

Is there a link to the tool? And to the procedure.

Just click what looks like a purse, ebay logo, the link is there.

I've got one on my snapon truck. For gm, but it will work on outs also. What's nice about this one is it includes the seal.

 

[FURYGT]

With the correct tool you can do all from the top.
View attachment 237500

Even with the tool you may have to drop the rear cross member for access.

 

[azblackhemi]

Even with the tool you may have to drop the rear cross member for access.

I've never had to.

 

[commando1]

You guys must have more floorboard clearance than my Formal. I can barely get two fingers up there.
I thought about drilling a hole access panel in th floor.

 

[MBar]

Just click what looks like a purse, ebay logo, the link is there.

I've got one on my snapon truck. For gm, but it will work on outs also. What's nice about this one is it includes the seal.

That looks like the ticket....says it comes with the seal... are there two separate seals? ...and does this extract the seal also? I didn't see a description of how to use it...I assume it comes with instructions. If so, can you post them? Many Thanks

 

[Dan Scully]

That looks like the ticket....says it comes with the seal... are there two separate seals? ...and does this extract the seal also? I didn't see a description of how to use it...I assume it comes with instructions. If so, can you post them? Many Thanks

You need enough room to screw the black puller into the seal. You might have to lower the rear of the trans to get the needed room by removing the transmission mount to let it lower down. Before that you need to remove the throttle pressure lever and the manual selector lever. Clean the area around the seal with brake or carb cleaner. The black part screws into the seal. The best way I found is remove the bolt in the seal remover tool. Take a ratchet and socket and turn and push the screw end of the remover tool into the seal , it will basically stop as it reaches the end of its travel and grabs the seal. Then take the bolt and turn it in. The tool will pull the seal out. You might have to retry this all a few times to get it to bite into the seal. Clean the area where the seal seats , put some lube on the seal surface and some sealer on the outside if you want. The silver part is the driver to drive the seal into the transmission. Reattach the trans mount if dropped and reattach the linkage. It is all much easier if you have access to a lift. There is only 1 seal.

 

[saforwardlook]

I have changed these seals often, and I have found that the seal remover is often stubborn to get started in the seal to remove it even when the tool is new. So what I do is place a square piece of plywood the size of the trans pan under the trans pan to protect the pan from being dented and then use an appropriate size c-clamp (about 12" long) to mount on the bottom of the piece of wood and the other end on top of the tool when it is in place to remove the seal. Then tighten the c clamp as needed (not too much is needed, just enough to get the threads of the tool to bite securely). Use an open end wrench to then turn the hex end of the remover tool in to grab the seal securely and then remove the clamp using the bolt in the top of the black tool to remove the seal.

Then to install the seal use the same basic technique using the C clamp again to install the seal using the silver part of the tool set again this time by just turning the c clamp in to push the seal downward. You can get the seal in the bore and the installer tool in place and tighten it enough to hold everything in place before actually tightening the C clamp fully to seat the seal - and before doing so, take a light and a swivel head small mirror to check to see if everything is lined up as it should be and then just tighten away until the tool stops, making sure you don't tighten the installer any more than needed.

This job was a frustration until I learned the technique I now use and get the job done in about 15 minutes.

Before you start the job, start the car and place the transmission in neutral so the torque converter will fill up and then shut the engine off and jack the car up from the front and use jackstands for safety to get clearance to do this job underneath the car so most of the fluid will be in the rear of the trans so little will leak out.

 

[thrashingcows]

I did wait until I was close to doing a tranny service though, so when I could not get the seal out it was no loss of fluid to drop everything and do it from the inside. Plus I am a cheap bugger, those parts with exchange to CND $$ and shipping would probably be $75 or more....so would rather spend an hour or so draining the fluid and dropping the valve body to replace the seal with just some simple hand tools and back yard engineering and stubbornness. ;)

 

[MBar]

I have changed these seals often, and I have found that the seal remover is often stubborn to get started in the seal to remove it even when the tool is new. So what I do is place a square piece of plywood the size of the trans pan under the trans pan to protect the pan from being dented and then use an appropriate size c-clamp (about 12" long) to mount on the bottom of the piece of wood and the other end on top of the tool when it is in place to remove the seal. Then tighten the c clamp as needed (not too much is needed, just enough to get the threads of the tool to bite securely). Use an open end wrench to then turn the hex end of the remover tool in to grab the seal securely and then remove the clamp using the bolt in the top of the black tool to remove the seal.

Then to install the seal use the same basic technique using the C clamp again to install the seal using the silver part of the tool set again this time by just turning the c clamp in to push the seal downward. You can get the seal in the bore and the installer tool in place and tighten it enough to hold everything in place before actually tightening the C clamp fully to seat the seal - and before doing so, take a light and a swivel head small mirror to check to see if everything is lined up as it should be and then just tighten away until the tool stops, making sure you don't tighten the installer any more than needed.

This job was a frustration until I learned the technique I now use and get the job done in about 15 minutes.

Before you start the job, start the car and place the transmission in neutral so the torque converter will fill up and then shut the engine off and jack the car up from the front and use jackstands for safety to get clearance to do this job underneath the car so most of the fluid will be in the rear of the trans so little will leak out.

I did it! I must say I tried without the c-clamp and that sucked...Then I did what you said and .....OMG what a difference. It did require some bravery as I had to really tighten that suckedr down to get a bite after a couple of turns. Actually took me a couple of tries as I didn't want to overdo it. So grateful for your advice. Hi am going to do a thread on the procedure with pics and I'm not sure how to credit you guys for the help but I do want you to know I am thankful. Never would have done it without you fellas.