[ChivoLoko]

Picture 4 (below)

Picture 3 (below)

Picture 2 (below)

Picture 1 (below)

Hey guys, I have a 2000 Dodge Durango 5.9L V8 4WD. Recently during the last weekend, I noticed my car was leaking transmission fluid and kept slipping on the gears when accelerating. As I decide to investigate, I notice there was a small gap on the cover of the bell housing I believe, the very bottom-front part of the transmission. Turns out one of the bolts were missing and another bigger one was loose. (Picture 1 and 2)

I managed to go to the junkyard and get that missing bolt, and put it on in hopes that the gap would close. Overall, most of the gap closed up but there’s still three small openings. I’m not sure if they’re vent holes or what, and if they’re not supposed to be there, what can I do to close them up? I circled the openings in red, and the bolts are circled white. The blue just indicates where it’s sealed off now compared to original leak, or at least I think it’s sealed. (Picture 3 and 4)

I haven’t attempted putting in more fluid yet, as when I noticed the leak it would just ooze out slowly while the car is turned on, simply just idling there. So here I am waiting on help for what to do next. Any help is greatly appreciated! 😄

 

[Don Fox]

Chivo:
I believe you are talking about the inspection cover. One bolt missing isn't correct, but it won't hurt anything. If the fluid is dripping from the bottom of the cover, you likely have a leaking front pump seal that sits behind the torque converter.
If so, that sucks because it's $10 part, but the trans has to come out to replace it.

You should check the fluid level, and keep it topped off if possible to avoid damaging the trans due to slipping.

Don

 

[Tin Foil Hat]

Chivo, I guess you don't know how transmissions work. The inspection cover is just to protect the flexplate and torque converter from dirt. Any fluid leak is from the front pump seal. Tightening things up won't stop a leak unless it's loose pan bolts.

 

[ChivoLoko]

Chivo:
I believe you are talking about the inspection cover. One bolt missing isn't correct, but it won't hurt anything. If the fluid is dripping from the bottom of the cover, you likely have a leaking front pump seal that sits behind the torque converter.
If so, that sucks because it's $10 part, but the trans has to come out to replace it.

You should check the fluid level, and keep it topped off if possible to avoid damaging the trans due to slipping.

Don

Hello Don, I got to work on the car today and managed to top off the fluid level as it was pretty low. It's been a week now since I last drove it. I decided to test drive it after I fixed the missing bolt issue and topped off the fluid, so I ran some errands here and there, but the car wasn't slipping as much this time. Only when I do sharp turns and accelerate as I'm coming out of the turn, it seems to jerk or jump a bit. The leak itself is still present though, just in lesser amounts and drips very slowly. So, I did more research earlier today and found out that the bottom metal plate is simply a dust cover. I also looked at diagrams to determine where the leak came from, as I didn't understand how it was all pooling up there.

Now that I see you mention the front pump seal, I just need to understand what exactly is the "front pump seal", or in better terms, what pump are we talking about that has a leaking seal? I did my best to reference this "front pump seal" in multiple diagrams and the most similar-sounding part I could find was a transmission oil pump, but no seal is pictured in the diagram. I just want a little more explanation so I know what the problem is, and where it is occurring. Also, just tell me if there's anything else important that I should know based on this new information I am giving here.

Thanks a lot for your help Don, I appreciate it very much!
- Agustin

 

[Tin Foil Hat]

The front pump seal is the front seal on your transmission that the torque converter slips into. That is likely where your leak is from and the transmission has to be pulled to change it. You probably also need the bands adjusted on the transmission plus a filter and fluid change. You can expect a price of $400-1000 depending on where it's serviced at.

 

[Don Fox]

Agustin:
@TFH has the answer. As an aside, while the trans is out, you might think about having all accessible external seals replaced, or possibly a rebuild/replacement trans since you are on the hook for the R and R labor anyway.
Your '00 D has the 46RE trans which is a good one for what it is.

If I were in your spot, I'd be thinking about how much longer you plan to have it, then how much you want to invest based upon that. If this is your daily driver, you need it to be dependable.
From the missing hardware, we can expect that there have been previous repairs, and this may not be the original 46RE.

Don

 

[Guy Fieri]

Since you're already working on the transmission you might wanna adjust the bands also