Well i did the 3 qt drain and refill with oem Honda fluid on my 97 accord,then i noticed my fluid started to drip a tiny bit from the drain plug i thought oh i didnt change the washer thats what it has to be.
So a week later i did another 3 qt drain and refill and put a new washer (from Honda)tightened it down drove around the block and parked the next morning a puddle of red fluid was under my car i was like wtf.... So i figured i didnt tighten it down enough with that new washer. But i just left it for a week and i checked my fluid and it was still full I was like nice.....So i jacked up the car today and got my breaker bar and my ratchet and tightened just a little and fluid just started pouring out i went into shock it was 97 degrees almost and i was panting and cursing. I got a clean bowl drained it out and the transmission is cracked beyond repair its cracked from inside the thread all the way out about an inch past the drain hole. So i couldnt drive i was at work and would have never made it home fluid was spewing out. cleaned it as good as i could and put jb weld all over and on the drain plug to now it drips a little ill probably have to redo it eventually but i say its time to start thinking about a 5 speed swap.


So just thought id share if you are doing your fluid change do not tighten the bolt to tight lol i really didnt tighten it that much the first time but i guess it fractured it and i just made it worse each time.




NOW you guys may make fun of me i feel really stupid lol

 

This is why you torque to spec HKB.

 

Yea i should have bought a Torque ratchet im a idiot lol

Im going to put more jb weld and add some silicon all in that area by the drain bolt and slow that leak down as much as possible but the bolt will be permanent. That was its last drain and fill service......Ill keep a bottle of Honda fluid in the trunk and keep that fluid level full....and use some for Cologne i kinda like the smell of automatic transmission fluid lol But who knows maybe it will still give me some years if i keep that fluid level up.

 

I would think your transmission might actually last longer with this condition. The reason being that you're constantly draining out old fluid and refilling with new. I'm not sure how much material that magnet on the drain plug can hold before it becomes ineffective, but at least the friction modifiers and detergents in your fluid will never get very depleted. Just keep it topped off with Genuine Honda ATF and don't drive it if the level is low, not even for a quick run around the block.

Good Luck!

 

That really sucks man, how did you end up overtightening it like that? The way I tighten any of my transmission/oil fluid is just snug it up. Not too tight just get it nice and snug.

I've read of stories of people using these special bolts which are for fixing these kinds of things. Here, watch this video,




EDIT:

Oh so you cracked the thing. Only thing to do about that is weld or JB weld it. I'd get it welded.

 

I bought a quart of oem Honda fluid today im def. going to keep an eye on it and hope it will last but im going to try and find some strong bonding silicone and put it all in that area and try and slow it down even more...But in the mean time im going to start collecting some manual transmission swap parts.....I kind of want to buy a second car and make this 97 accord a cool little h22 spec s swap project but i really dont know what i want to do yet lol

 

First time i tightened was just my strength which i did pretty hard second time was with a long breaker bar lol i thought it was supposed to be real tight to push down on that metal washer....but lesson learned lol

 

It's just a sump the bolt only needs to be snug... but you know that now.

I know of a fella who cracked the oil pan on his E30. Since it was a beater and he didn't give, (IIRC) he used some of that under coating/cheap bedliner in a spray can goo to seal up the crack. Only thing he did was drain the pan and clean it as best he could(externally) and then gave a few coatings of the black goo, and it never leaked.

You could try JB weld, but it needs to be clean and try for it to stick. Don't need to seal the crack itself, just cover it. There's no pressure in the sump.

 

I had to put jb weld on but i did not clean it but it stuck so i may have to do it again if it falls off,but if it just drips like how it does now i dont mind im going to put some more jb maybe and silicon the whole area i just had to do it quick it was pouring out maybe a quart an hour it looked like lol But i will never over tighten anything again

 

Sheeesh great job lol.. u really did a number on that one. I would say if $$ tight solder it as best as you could since it’s aluminum. J.B weld or any kind of muffler sealant might work. What your doing now should work just DO NOT add any cheap transmission fluid.. stick to strictly OEM HONDA