Well a month or two back I had my car in for the AP2 Tranny TSB where the tranny pops out of gear at higher RPMs. I'm pretty sure they used an impact gun and over tightened or simply misthreaded the fill bolt on the tranny.

Today I went to swap out my fluid (just cuz I was doing maintenance) and it took the jaws of life to get the tranny fill bolt to snap loose and when it did it will NOT go back on. The fill bolt will screw all the way in and you can get it semi-hand tight but when you go to tighten it with a socket it simply spins free when you think its going to tighten up.

I tried looking for one of those expandable 17mm bolts that you use when you have a threaded oil pan that can expand with the rubber around it, but the biggest one they had was standard 5/8". Anyways my mechanic buddy came over tonight after I failed at every autopart store in the area . . . he put the fill bolt on with some thread lock stuff that is supposed to be like a sealant on the bolt and make it stick in good. He also says it won't cause any harm if it evaporates or a tiny bit somehow drips off the bolt into the tranny. I'm sure he's right, he says they use it in engine rebuilds. He also used a gasket maker on the outside of the bolt just in case it leaks or the thread lock stock doesn't stick.

What do you recommend tomorrow? I'm pretty sure the dealer caused it during the TSB because I've changed my tranny fluid a few times and never had issues, but I don't really want to have to take it all the way back to the dealer and argue over this. How hard would it be to grab a 17mm tap tomorrow at Ace Hardware or something and just re-tap the whole?

My mechanic buddy says he thinks the thread lock and gasket stuff should hold fine as long as I don't drive it hard till tomorrow morning when it can seal good. Its not really an essential bolt right? If it was the drain bolt I'd be paranoid to drive it, but I don't think the fill bolt is really under pressure or anything and is just for spalshes right?

 

It would not hurt to talk to the dealer first. But you will be fine with the fill bolt. You only need to make sure it does not come out.

Re-tap or get and oversized self tapping bolt and you'll be fine.

Tim

 

How difficult is it to re-tap?

 

Oh and for what its worth we used the blue thread lock since apparantly the red stuff would have had it stuck on there till the second coming of Christ.

 

I seriously doubt that

 

Retappings the easy part. Getting all the metal out of the tranny's the hard part. I'm not sure I'd do it without taking the tranny apart first. Another user here had a similiar problem. I think he ended up using a rubber plug that you thread a bolt into and that expands into the hole.

 

Dealer will never admit to this even if they caused the problem. Good luck dude.

 

I figured I'd just dump the fluid out and change it again, wouldn't that remove it all?

Is our bell housing made of aluminium? I thought so . . . if so I would think small aluminium particles would get turned to dust rather quickly if they fell inside the tranny anyway.

 

Re-Tap it and get a magnetic plug (Spoon $$) to make sure you pull all the bits out that you may have missed.

The dealer isn't gonna do anything. If they were the ONLY ones to ever work on the car, then maybe. However you said you've done some work........................so they are just gonna blame the "other guy".

Good Luck,
Hockey

 

Thanks, thats my plan. Even if some little metal shavings fall in and don't come out for a change or two, would it really be that bad? Isn't it just for lubrication?