HELP! 56 plymouth powerflite tranny leak

[Guest sniperfire]

My 56 Plymouth with a 2 speed Powerflite tranny leaks lots of fluid when parked for several days or weeks. It appears that it is coming from the shift cable. I have seen this problem posted before but no solutions. Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

Two possibilities:

1 ) the O-ring on cable-end where it enters the transmission case.

2) The rubber cable sheath is decomposing and allowing fluid to escape through the metal conduit. If this is the case, fluid leakage will be worse when the car is running on the highway or pulling big hills. ( I'm having this very problem with my 1960 Windsor w/ Torqueflite.).

Edited May 21, 2010 by De Soto Frank (see edit history)

[Guest sniperfire]

Thanks Frank,

The cable has a good o-ring on it, and the tranny doesn't leak if I drive the car a lot. Only when it is parked for a while. So I am not sure if the rubber on the cable could be causing this, but it looks in good shape. Hmmmmm........ Thanks again.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

If I park my Windsor sideways on a hill, with the driver's side on the down-hill side (low side), it will leak ATF (through the shift cable) while parked.

If your push-button cable sheath is leaking, it will be very obvious: the rubber covering will be spongy / gooey, and there will probably be evidence of ATF spraying on the under-body.

Another trick might be to slide a sheet of cardboard under the parked car and see where the drip(s) are coming from.

One possibility might be where the filler-tube attaches to the pan - this is a big SAE inverse-flare connection on my Windsor... I've had leakage there too.

How about the gasket around the pan ?

[Guest sniperfire]

The only place it appears to be coming from is the shift cable. I am going to have to see if I can clamp it up somehow or something. Thanks again.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

One suggestion I got from the Forward Look web-forum was to disconnect the upper end of the cable from the pushbutton unit on the dash, and feed that end out through the firewall, then slide a length of fuel-pump hose ( the kind with braided reinforcement) over the shift cable, until it's snug against the fitting at the end that connects to the transmission, then clamp each end of the hose with hose clamps.

I have not tried it yet.

I did not have any cable leakage issues with my '64 Newport or '61 Belvedere, but that was 20 years ago; I did not have this issue with my Windsor when I bought it around 1999, but I sure have it now.

Let us know if you find a solution...

Good luck !

[Fleek]

I had the same problem with my 69 Dodge truck. The problem was the O ring where the shifter came out of the tranny was weak and would leak after sitting for a few days because the fluid level in the tranny would rise as the torque converter leaked down. If I ran it every few days, no leak, but if it sat for more than a week then it would start to seep.