Ohhhhhh NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Trans Fluid!!!

[Jeff Wilk]

Yup,  two years of breaking down the entire front clip of our 59 and restoring every piece, part, nut and bolt........ On stalling a dual master cylinder.....and a complete tri power and a/c rebuild...... Along with every hose, belt, and gasket new..... Guess what???

After a couple of last minute issues got fixed like the ignition switch, relplacing the new master with a different master, getting one ac hose shortened, and redoing one front coil.....

The car is running like a clock (actually found the original file from when i bought it 32 years ago and discovered that the engine was fully rebuilt along with the trans by Cadillac in NV less than 6000 miles ago) and then.........

One of the transmission hoses to the cooler blows out right at the fan with the car running!!!!!  Trans fluid EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!  All over the entire engine bay and shop.

Cant use chems with the newly painted everything so its rags and rags and soap and water and more rags.........any other ideas??

BTW...... Turns out it was a defective hose which had the entire rubber crimped shut where the metal fitting meets the rubber!!!!!

Noah and I are about to push this thing back into the garage for another 24 year hibernation at this point!!!!!

[Walter Youshock]

YUK!  I understand your frustration.  Be happy it wasn't antifreeze.  I detailed the engine in the '57 a few years back--removed valve covers, intake, top cover, exhaust manifolds and the water pump so I could get to the front cover.  Got it all back together and headed out for a show two days after the detail job.  8 miles from home, going 60 on the hiway, the water pump seal decides to blow, spewing hot coolant EVERYWHERE!  All that lovely Cadillac blue turned purple...  And I turned RED!

Be happy it happened when and where it did.  Had that fluid been hot, you AND the fresh paint would be ruined.

Clean it up and walk away from it for awhile.  Best thing for you and the car right now.  Trust me....

[Gene Beaird]

Yep, 'stuff' happens!  As others have said, it can always be worse.  Hugely-frustrating, but not a deal-breaker.  Luckily, the ATF is gentle on painted surfaces, and can actually help protect to a small amount.  It's just a minor setback, and you're right there at the end of the restoration tunnel.  Fix and enjoy the car!

When I first saw the title, I thought 'who was out in my shop yesterday?!?'  I went out there to look at something on our 68 Calais (turns out the replacement set of headlight bezels I have may be 67 bezels), and while walking to the back of the car, I stepped in a puddle of ATF that was emanating from under the 68.  I looked under the car to see a thin line of ATF directly under the tailshaft seal, leading to a bigger puddle under the driver's seat area.  The car has had issues with transmission leaks elsewhere, but not the tailshaft.  <Sigh>, I guess it's now time to pull the trans and reseal.  Oh well, it needs to be done, but I wanted to make it later, rather than sooner.

[harvey b]

I would try a pressure washer with a soap dispenser on the end by the nozzle,just be gentle with it and should clean up nice.when your done just dry it with some towel,also the tranny fluid is a good rust preventer too.I would use one of the home type washers,the one at the local carwash might have to much pressure,would take off the paint. Harvey b

[mgbeda]

Gene,

I was able to replace both the round seal at the aft end of the tail shaft and the thin seal between the tail shaft housing and the man tranny housing without removing the tranny.  Just removed the driveshaft, supported the tranny at the rear with a jack, and removed the aft transmission brace.  Then I used a long extension on a half inch drive ratchet to remove the tail housing to main housing bolts.  Of course mine is a '76; it might be different in a '68, but I thought I'd mention it.  They're both TH400's after all.

Good luck,

-mB