axle shaft seal 4t65-e, 01 lumina

[tractorman]

The seal is leaking on my 01 lumina where the axle shaft goes into the transmission. I'm gonna change it in a couple days. Anything special I need to know about this? I've done the same job(with limited success) on the wife's '96 corsica with a 4T60-e. Any major differences here?

Unlike the wife's car, the shaft doesn't wobble much at all, so assuming that the shaft isn't grooved or something, I'm gonna just replace the seal. Not sure what would make it leak in the first place.

Also, what's different with this 4T65-e tranny? Will it last longer or anything? or is it just more expensive to fix?

[sharkey]

the 4t65e is supposivly a better tranny. it is simular to the 4t60e, but it uses a pressure controll solonoid instead of a vacume modulator to controll line pressure. there are also a bunch of other differences aswell.

its a more advanced tranny, i wouldnt say its better though.

[SHOoff]

I dont think there's gonna be much difference in changing the axle seal. Since you've done it before, you should be able to tell what you're doing fairly easily.

[tractorman]

Changed that seal today. No real problems- matter of fact, stuff was a lot easier to get to than on the wife's corsica. The axle shaft was kindof a bittch to pop out like usual... but not too big a deal.

I also installed a transmission cooler from a 2003 Ford Expedition, and I welded up a filter base using a #8 o-ring face hydraulic fitting so it'll take the same filter as a chevy 350. The trans. cooler lines on the Lumina's cooler in the radiator snap into the cooler in the radiator with some cheapas$ little wire clips... not too impressed with that. I've used inverted flate fittings before to plumb up extra coolers, but I couldn't get those cheapa$s fittings to unscrew from the cooler in the radiator... maybe those stupid little wire clips are all it has? I cut one pipe with a tubing cutter, used compression fittings and plumbed it up with copper tubing. The fluid runs through the Ford oil-to-air cooler first, then through the Chevy 350 filter, then back through the stock oil-to-water cooler. It's pretty sweet... makes me with I had a digital camera to show it off.

[sharkey]

when running a tranny cooler in series with the factory cooler in the rad, you always want to pass through the rad first, then through the tranny cooler. when you do it the oter way around, you cool the oil off in the cooler, then heat it back up in the rad, defeating the purpose. also, the engine oil filter is going to have problems filtering transmission fluid. tranny fluid tends to make normal rubber expand and get very soft and soggy, and engine oil filters dont have rubber seats compatable with tranny fluid. i also would rather run the filter before the coolers. this way, the contaminents that come from the tranny dont end up plugging the cooler up.

[tractorman]

Bud... if you don't know what you're talkin' about... don't give the advice. I"ve run engine oil filters on auto transmissions for YEARS with no problems. Also, the trans fluid should be run through the oil to air cooler, then back through the oil-to-water cooler, ESPECIALLY with this 4T65e trans. since it has a temp sensor. Even if it didn't, it's still a better way to go if you're gonna be running in cold weather.

I put the filter between the coolers for a reason. I got the ford expedition cooler off ebay... and you never know what might be in it. I blew it out with shop air, and the oil looked good and clean, but you never know. It's a BIG cooler- if it got stopped up with tranny crud, I'd have MUCH bigger concerns anyhow. The stock cooler is the only one I'm concerned about plugging.

I've been a heavy equipment mechanic for a bit over a decade now, and I know a few things about oil compatibility. There's no difference whatsoever between rubber seals used with engine oil and those used with ATF. Matter of fact, I've worked on several Case loaders that used ATF, hydraulic oil, or engine oil depending on what year the were made and the temperature in which they're to be operated.