[npeters]

2004 w/ 99800 miles. Wife ran over rock/concrete hidden in grass while parking at ball field. Now I have a hairline crack leaking ATF onto my catalytic converter. I can't discern the crack due to the scraped aluminum. I will file it off tomorrow and see what I find.
Question - Has anyone repaired a tranny housing successfully w/ JB-weld or similar. I can't afford a new tranny and my warranty doesn't cover external damage.

 

[0dyfamily]

npeters, I haven't fixed a tranny housing with JB Weld, but I did take care of a smashed 2002 EX oil pan with JB Weld.

I had our new Ody up on a jack for its first oil change, and that el-cheapo 2-ton jack twisted, broke, and impaled the oil pan. Luckily, it didn't break the oil pump pickup. The broken metal was in the shape of a letter "T" (where the aluminum was fractured). I managed to pull the pieces together without breaking them completely off, cleaned it completely with brake cleaner, rough sanded it for adhesion, cleaned it again...and on went the JB Weld.

I had no worries about draining any oil prior to the repair...I'd drained it all out first by pulling the plug, and when it fell off the jack, the rest drained out the hole I broke into the cast pan.:stupid:

It held for a week with no weeping until I got the new oil pan installed. I probably could have gone thousands of miles with that repair, but it really was a big compound fracture in the cast aluminum...a hairline crack it was not. This was the first time I'd used JB Weld for this sort of thing, and I was really impressed by the way it handle the heat cycles from cold to hot to cold every time we drove it.

The key here will be to drain that tranny completely, then prep and clean the repair area as much as possible before applying this stuff. When it comes to surface application of epoxies, cleanliness and a properly roughed-up surface and following the directions on the JB Weld package are your priorities.

OF

 

[SuperDad]

I agree that JB-weld would do the job just fine, and that cleaning will be key to having it succeed.

I once repaired a dorm refrigerator with jb-weld on the flat freezer compartment floor which is the evaporator and contains freon. When you see the "dont use knife nor gimlet for defrosting sticker", you should probably interpret that to include 'screwdriver' I figure if it can hold back cold freon on a flat aluminum surface, it should be able to deal with unpressurised trans fluid.

Make sure you slather it on good, extend at least 3/8 inch on both sides of the crack, so it has a good grip.

 

[mjody]

Should work. My case gasket split and my a/t dripped. I drained the fluid and jacked up that corner so no ATF would seep through. Took my time and put 4 layers on. Held up so far.

 

[LeftCoastCamper]

Contact your insurance company. This type of damage is covered by the comprehensive part of your insurance. Claims of this type are less likely to increase your rates.

I had an employee that had the insurance pay for a new seal on the sunroof of her civic after crows ate the seal.

The insurance agent initially rejected the claim and after checking with the insurance company they paid the claim.

 

[0dyfamily]

I hope your right...most companies' comprehensive coverages do include hitting holes or other roadway deformations on an established roadway...it's called "collision with road". Honest. Seen it with my neighbor.

That said, I wonder what they'll say about not being on a roadway. I'd still give it a try, too.

OF

 

[texdav]

In Texas its called road hazard and my insurance covers it.

 

[JD Grish]

Hello! I have similar problem but mine is a little bigger than a hairline crack as u can somewhat see in pics. My transmission housing is cracked all the way around the mount due to wife bottoming out on dip in intersection (she may have been speeding a bit!) I don't think J-B weld will hold considering the weight and movement, but not sure. I have only used on smaller repairs. Would it hold if had someone tig weld? Or am I just going to have to rebuild transmission??Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[0dyfamily]

JD, I don't think any of us knows how much load that particular part of the casting bears while driving.

My first inclination is to have a pro TIG weld it. That said, if it cracks again after the weld, you could lose all the ATF and not know it until the tranny quit working.

If you can find a pro welding shop, or excellent mechanic who also TIG welds (finding a guy like that anywhere is tough), have them look at it.

That had to be quite the impact. You have to get past the subframe rails before the tranny becomes vulnerable.

OF

 

[JD Grish]

It was a very hard impact.After removing the trans mount for further inspection I realized it actually knocked out chunk of casing the size of a quarter above bolt and split open port bolt goes in. I don't think my soon to b ex is telling full story about a little dip in the intersection, I think she jumped it because she was driving angry which I've asked her not to.she's lucky didn't hurt herself or someone else. And no I'm not getting divorced because she hurt the Honda, it's just the icing on a very hurtful and miserable piece of cake!!!

So now I am stuck in decision on what next. I have a friend who is excellent welder who is going to take a Look. But not sure if possible w out pushing broken piece into transmission??? If he won't I guess I will try the craziest jb weld application I've ever tried or heard of before dishing cash I don't have on rebuild or new tran.

Don't want to lose van but may have to file bankruptcy to cover all of damages including our new house I've worked very hard for if I can't repair van affordably. Check out pics tell me what u think. I'm guessing she got airborne before impact! Poor Betsy Lough!

 

[0dyfamily]

Oh, man...that was quite the hit. I've seen the flange on that downpipe at the end of the flexible portion scraped up (yes, my wife, too), but not an actual ka-bam to the forward-bottom portion of the downpipe.

Grish, to save this would take an experienced welder. Cleaning that to a weldable state would be the easy part, but I do believe that the pieces could be TIG welded shut to regain the fluid tightness of the case. After that, you couldn't really re-use that threaded area; it would require welding a shaped beef-up plate to that area, maybe a threaded boss welded to it. After that, you'd have to hack off a piece of your current transmission mount, and have a piece welded to it to accommodate the added dimensions (extra aluminum) in that area.

I think all of that would be less expensive than a full no-core transmission replacement. The trouble would be finding someone willing to tackle the job. I've seen seemingly torn aluminum items on jets where engineers and fabricators manufactured a repair solution; I've seen a stack of aluminum beef-up plates used in high stress areas to add strength. That's the avenue I would pursue, if I could find somebody to do it.

OF