Whats the easiest way to seal gap between transaxle and engine?
I have a 2003 Ford Focus that I recently did
a transaxle rebuild on. Everything seemed
to go well until fluid started circulating to
the torque converter. Big leak where the
transaxle and engine meet! From my
understanding, only the bottom half of that
meeting area needs to be sealed. Can
someone verify that for me? Also... Any
techniques to make the job easier? I was
just thinking I could loosen all the mounting
bolts, jack up the left side of the transaxle
to create a gap along the bottom half, and
sealing it back up. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks.
There should be a gasket between the engine and transmission. You will have to take it back apart to install the gasket.
This is it..https://www.google.com/search?q=2003+ford+focus+engine+transaxle+gasket&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb
We're just messengers, please don't shoot us
LOL
Lol... No shooting from here. But that's not it. That looks like a pan seal. The area where the engine and trans axle meet up is round with only about 10 bolts.
Huh... Let me have another look
OK. More like this?
And this will size up. forget red circle I drew black arrows, where does it separate? Or even look like this?
yes.. Round gasket looks more like it. As far as your black arrows, the black arrow to the right is the area its leaking from. Is there even the supposed to be fluid in that bottom pumpkin piece? I was talking to a pep boys mechanic who does transmissions on the side and said when he had a big leak from that area it was actually the internal fluid pump. He said its common for the gasket around the pump to fold as you're installing it and creates a rather high pressure leak. However, the leak continued even after I turned off the car so I know for a fact it needs to be sealed one way or another. Unless, of course, fluid isn't even supposed to be in that area. It's actually the housing the torque converter sits in. Thanks for all your time and help with this. Sorry for the delay getting back to you.
By the way... What's the name of that round seal you posted?
OK... I'm an idiot but not a big enough idiot to finally find out what's going on. Its the forward/internal fluid pump seal. But yes... It does mean I have to pull out the transaxle again. Yuck... In the process, a boot split open on the left CV shaft. When it rains it poors. Can't wait to get this car done so i can have my garage back! Thanks again, guys for the earlier input.
No problem. Fordnut knows way more about Fords than I do but I have been following your posts. I'm just glad you figured it out.
OK... The saga continues. I pulled the transaxle a second time to fix the leak. Reinstalled... Success! After the rebuild, I installed the transaxle and all seemed fine minus the leak. After the second install, however, I'm getting a loud sound from the torque converter / flywheel area. Sounds like the flywheel scraping the housing (or something). Don't understand what could have happened between install #1 and install #2. Any idea what it could be or how to fix it without an install #3?
Sounds like may have left a bolt in pump housing backed out or flywheel bolts loose or cracked flywheel
