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A.b.s. bleeding fail

That gasket is stuck on. It was put on with gasket maker.. but leaked on bottom side against the pan. If I clean the pan good can I just put new rubber fel-pro gasket on the pan and put it together. Or do I have to fight this thing of of the tranny
 

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Also the bolt holes in the tranny pan are recessed in ( towards the side that goes against the tranny) anyone have a simple way to Flatten them back out.. keep in mind I I don't own a vice or have special tools.. just basic mechanics tools.. I had thought about putting it face down on a flat piece of steel I have and find something to put over the whole from other side and hit it with a hammer.. maybe put a stak of quarters on it..
 
And to the gasket that is stuck on the tranny, I would recommend scraping it off and cleaning up both surfaces well. normally gaskets don;t need any goop to make a decent seal here, but since the pan needs some TLC. you need to get a good gasket and use a thin layer of permatex #2. allow it to get tacky before installing. and don't over tighten the bolts causing the gasket to squish. that alone will cause a leak.
 
The gasket that was stuck to the bottom of the tranny was one of the reusable ones. So I cleaned it up really good on the bottom side. And cleaned the pan lip excessively good. I used the method @ak diesel driver recommended with a piece of wood to flatten the holes. And I put the pan back on with that gasket still stuck to the tranny. Refilled it with fluid and it has not dripped one little bit since. But I'm still going to keep an eye on it for a while.
We learned a new hack for cleaning the lip on a pan when it has a lot of permatex or whatever stuck to it. Obviously scraping is good you can with a razor or paint scraper etc. But for all the little s*** that's left on it after that, take a regular kitchen sponge like a Scotch-Brite sponge that has the green scrubby side on the back... Get it damp with hot water, and use the sum fast orange or gojo hand cleaner... Use that to scrub the lip of the pan. Obviously don't overdo it but if you take your time with it it takes the s*** right off and give you a nice clean surface.
 
I'm going to see about getting a new master cylinder this week. And get it put on.. then I'll do the abs bleed again. And see where I get. I will say the truck is running a million times better. It does still drag occasionally but not like it used to at all. I want to get the power steering pump flushed out really good. Because as I said before the fluid is black and I do mean black. The thing is the steering is erratic also sometimes you have to fight the wheel a little bit and sometimes the truck feels like it's pulling to one side or the other. Almost like you have a really bad alignment. I know my alignment is off but it's not that bad, not enough to cause that. And occasionally I get a vibration in the front end one side or the other. This leads me to her believe that the brake pads are not always fully releasing.
For future reference is it possible that because of the power steering fluid being so messed up that maybe it's causing the hydroboost and the gearbox to mess up? What I mean is if it's contaminated or burnt really bad can it lose its hydraulic pressure properties or lubricating properties?
 
the condition of the P/S fluid can cause both the box and the HB to fail. the worst is when the pump decides to go like the forth of July and glitter bomb the whole system. if that occurs, all three will need to be replaced along with flushing out the cooler and hose replacements.

get a P/S filter with a magnet installed on the return line from the box to the pump after you flush it. also when flushing, put the used stuff in a mason jar to see if there is any metallic glitter, using a magnet on a stick too to see if you catch any.
 
As others here have mentioned to me before. Fluid types that get used on these trucks are important for long service life. Dextron III is about the best to use other than pure synthetic P/S fluid that can take the heat and torture from these rigs.
 
These parts were designed to run dexron3.

In the fleet we tried doing comparison tests to see is the regular power steering fluid would do better. It cost more, and was far worse when trying to flush it out than atf. Maybe because of the cleaning agents in the atf?

I never again put power steering fluid in one.
 
Thank you @Will L. I was pretty sure you or someone had said to put ATF in it instead of power steering fluid. So when @dbrannon79 said that it made me think of it again of course I questioned my own memory ( you know old age and all) ... And I was thinking tranny fluid is a hell of a lot cheaper by the gallon than power steering fluid. Hey can I use a Valvoline dex/Merc or do I have to specifically get Dex 3. (I run the dex /merc in the tranny.)
This leads me to another thing. The truck is running awesome barely any drag at all and when it does it's only on take off for a second or two and then it shifts and she's gone like the wind... I know this when I first started it today and went to leave the transmission hesitate, as in I pushed the throttle and didn't go anywhere for a couple seconds then it grabbed and went. Didn't have any other issues all day.. the funny thing is when I check the transmission fluid it's barely touching the dipstick maybe a 1/8th of inch or 1/4th inch up the stick.. not even to the cold mark. I'm honestly kind of wondering if there's some chance that I have the wrong dipstick. I don't think so.. but it seems it has always ran a little better when it's low on tranny fluid. . I'm thinking back to when the original problem started a handful of years ago we did a trainee filter change and fresh fluid. I'm not going to swear to this but I think we used Dex 6. Or whatever the one is the GM says to use in them now that we all know not to use.. (but I didn't know that back then) again I'm not swearing to it the death to kind of fluid we used to then it might have been Dex merc. From the time I bought the truck until then I don't remember if I'd ever done anything with the transmission fluid before that day. As far as checking it. And I didn't get any info from the prior owner as to what kind of fluid it had in it for all I know it might have synthetic in it. My point being I need to find out how long the dipstick should be so if anybody has the same kind can you please measure the stick and tell me how long it is just so I can make sure. Again this is just a theory. I've heard that a transmission that is overfilled will f- up. .. again just a thought maybe nothing to it..
All I know is after bleeding the ABS box with the tech 2, (after I replaced the box) and fixing the transmission pan, and I also ( before will told me not to) had used a turkey baster to suck all the fluid out of the power steering pump then I dumped fresh fluid in spun the wheel a few times and pump the brake a few times which of course made the fluid dirty again I sucked it back out again I did that probably three times. Just trying to get some of the black s*** out of there. Of course the fluid is still pretty nasty. But anyhow after doing all that stuff the truck is almost back to the way she was when I bought her, running like a champion.. I'm almost afraid to change the master cylinder cuz I'm afraid to screw it back up again LOL.
And so I asked you Will, should I go ahead and run a couple gallons of tranny fluid through the pump and get all the nasty s*** out of it now? And if so can I use the Dex Merc or should I specifically get Dex 3?
I want to thank all you guys for helping me with this truck for so long trust me I know it's been a hell of a headache and you've probably gotten sick of hearing me b**** about it
 
I have found that these tranny's are tempermental with the fluid levels. mine was at one time only a quart low and started acting qurky. after adding the one quart up to the full mark it's been fine ever since. I doubt you have the wrong dipstick. but I will say that being it's showing low you might add more fluid. my theory is being a little over full is better than starving it for lack there of!
 
Ok. Thanks @ak diesel driver I had used regular rubber fuel hose when I changed it. The cheap stuff that comes on a roll at AutoZone that you buy by the foot.. I remember Will said something about not using it for diesel because of it having some kind of bad effect on the hose or something. And to use a certain kind of hose. I didn't know if the same would apply.
 
Thank you @MrMarty51 I didn't even think about the heat.. the high pressure hoses get pretty hot. Which would mean the fluid going down the return line would be just as hot.. which could damage it.. I need to replace that hose anyhow so I'll go to Napa and get the right stuff this time .
 
Yep, best bet is to stop by Napa and ask for some oil cooler hose. the one they sell here is black but is made for hot oils like engine and trans fluids. I think it's rated for something like 300 psi but using it there will never see that kind of pressure. be sure to get some heavy duty clamps, the worm gear clamps aren't strong enough for this hose.

I used this hose when I replaced the rubber portion on my oil cooler lines and seems to work great. I did however double clamp it for piece of mind mainly due to the slick barb that the factory aluminum line had after removing the old rubber.
 
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