So Tom (mertztr) and I will be flushing my tranny this weekend. When I reinstall the auto tranny pan and I seal it up with RTV, do I have to let the RTV dry all the way before filling the tranny or running the engine? Full cure time is something like 12 hours or 24 hours and that's way too long. Is an hour long enough? A couple minutes?

Steve

 

I think you will only find opinion on this one Steve... Personaly, I like to use a tacky gasket sealer/cement.. Put it on both sides of the surfaces you are going to seal and let it "tack-up" and then lightly coat the gasket, let that "tack-up" and then install it. I don't like the silicoln, espicaly for the tranny. How many times have you seen chunks of it floating in the radiator?? That stuff has a place in moderation, but you do not need it on everything. I would use some of the high tack gasket cements out there. Also, make darn sure you torque the bolts properly. This is the #1 cause of leaking pans.. overtorqued bolts and bent pan lips (also, tap your pan flat if the holes are "dished in" from the factory...)