[squidbilly]

Awesome post! Thanks for explaining this as I have this exact problem. If everyone posted like this there would not be any questions! Thanks!

[The Greek]

An overfull condition will cause the fluid to foam and expand. The lubricating quality of the fluid will diminish because of the air that is in suspension in the fluid. Trans. slippage will also cause the fluid to overheat and expand.

The expansion will force fluid out of the vent. A properly functioning trans. shouldn't be forcing fluid from the vent. Some of the newer C4s don't have tubing for a vent, but just a small vent cap.

A dipstick that is for another model or incorrectly marked as well as a poor quality fluid that is lacking the antifoaming additives needed could be culprits.

I am fortunate that I had the experience to eliminate the the leak prone kickdown shaft leak on my own, but I want to say thanks, tripleblack, for your efforts in helping others with this chronic leakage problem. It's really nice to have a 40 plus year old car that doesn't leave its mark on the pavement. Especially when I park on one of my friend's driveways.

[V10 Cougar]

Good stuff, This is what's happening to mine. Thanks for the solution.

[mmerlinn]

Originally Posted by stanged1970

This definitely deserves a sticky.

I TOTALLY DISAGREE.

This thread was referred to in another forum. The solution above APPALLED me. Here is what I wrote in that other forum:

Originally Posted by AndrewNTX

I'm in the same boat... looking for the seal but also learned a lot from the following post:
C4 Trans Gear Selector Shaft/Throttle Valve Shaft Leak SOLUTION! - Ford Mustang Forums

My car has the leak and I find an Oring in there but I have questions....

Finding the correctly matched parts is no problem whatsoever. There are still lots of C4s still floating around. And I have 2 ten-gallon buckets full of manual control & throttle levers myself. That is a LOT of levers.

[Wifes66]

Hi mmerlinn .

My name is Steve. I use my real name in my signature because I have nothing to hide. I felt that I should respond to your post not in an attempt to defend myself but rather clarify a few things for those that you have so graciously enlightened.

Let’s look at information gathering in general. Thank you for the information on the two different length levers. I was a dealership mechanic for 20 years at one of those "C" places. I seldom worked on C4's except for friends. There are all sorts of little nuances like this across all lines and this type of info can be hard to find. For example, I never found any information at all about the two different lengths or what the symptoms of such would be. I believe that in my original post I even documented what others had posted as solutions. I did not however tell them that they “suck” or that their solutions were “cobbled together”. Were you not appalled at their solutions? I guess I just overlooked your solution in my quest to solve this problem.

You must be a transmission man at some shop somewhere if you have “ten gallon buckets” of these lying around. I am sure you are a very skilled technician but you may want to work on your reading comprehension skills. In my post I said:

“Take from this what you will but it worked for me.”

“This is the only C4 I have ever worked on other than fluid changes but I would guess they all have the same problem to one extent or another that mine did.”

“I don’t know if it was poorly engineered or if it was a quality control issue but it appears that a number of these (most) got out of the factory with mismatched or poorly machined parts.”

“I am not saying the following solutions are wrong as long as they worked to the posters satisfaction. They just didn’t seem like reasonable solutions after my diagnosis of the problem.”

“DISCLAIMER:
Perform this modification at your own risk! All information provided below was taken from my observations on my car. No other cars were studied and this problem may not be common across all C4 transmissions. (But I bet it is) Please consult your physician if you begin to feel faint, dizzy nauseous or drowsy while reading this thread.”

“PHOTOS 9,10,11
After realizing what needed to be done to fix the leak, I wanted to be sure the internal TV lever would still contact the TV valve plunger in the valve body. (read the rest and look at the photos and you will see that it does).”


In closing mmerlinn I would just like to say that I posted my information for the sole purpose of helping my fellow enthusiast. Not to thumb my nose at there diligent efforts to merely render their cars leak free. I spend money every year to have a picture site and I have a corner of it tucked neatly away so the photos in my post will be available to anyone that wants to view them. I do this to help people and I am glad that you found this so I could help you feel better about your vast knowledge of this subject and my apparent stupidity. If you wouldn’t mind posting some part numbers for the levers or maybe some casting numbers of the cases that contain them I see no reason anyone should have a problem with this leak again.

And by the way, please link this to those “other sites”. I am sure they would like to see you shoot me down in flames directly.

Hope this helps,

Steve

[Madison Brandon]

Thanks for the info Steve.

[jeff1967]

My C4 is leaking from the shift shaft, has anyone out there replaced the seal, can it be done with the tranny still in the car, or does the seal need to be changed from inside the case? Attached is the area I am talking about.

Any advise appreciated.

Jeff