1957 Fairlane Ford-Omatic 3 speed Trans Torque Converter

[chapingo17]

I rebuild engine & automatic tranny around 6 years ago. Everything is fine expect I'm getting a leak at the front end of the transmission (red oil leak) between engine & trans. I did not replace seals for torque converter I read a couple of articles on line, but not sure exactly what seals and how to properly replace seals without damaging torque converter. I was also searching for a diagram break thru of the torque converter, there are some on-line not sure which is the right one.

[gasman826]

There are three places a FOM might leak out at the bottom of the bell housing.  One could be the pump to convertor seal.  Another could be the pump to case o-ring.  And finally the convertor half to convertor half o-ring.

[chapingo17]

Would you happen to know where I can get a diagram of these items?

[cokefirst]

Probably the best bet would be the Fordomatic Shop Manual for 1957.  They are sold reprinted and they have good diagrams.  Also, the Ford parts book illustrations book will have a good diagram but it will be a General diagram as apposed to the specific one in the Shop Manual.  the parts illustrations will show the parts as they are used on all models.

Whenever you pull a Transmission for service, always replace those front seals.  I have my trans overhauled and it leaked right after and it was the big seal for the two halves of the torque converter.  With newer cars, they do not come apart so the shops don't replace them unless they know.

[oldave57]

I did this front seal repair on my 1957 Fordomatic last year.  The leak sources mentioned above are:
1)  Torque Converter front cover o'ring seal.
2)  Front pump to torque converter hub seal.
3)  Front pump to trans. case o'ring seal.
These seals are provided by the attached website (Autotran) as their "front seal up kit" listed on their parts list under "Miscellaneous Fordomatic parts pricing".  The seal-up kit includes seals for the 3 locations listed and the price is $32.00.

There is another potential source for leakage also (which is still leaking on my Fordomatic) and that is the two seals that seal up the transmission shift linkage and the transmission control valve linkage on the left side of the main case.  These two seals can also be found on the Autotran website listed as "manual control shaft seal kit" P/N F0-15.  The price on this is $5.00. I still have this to do but this can be done with the transmission left in the car and accessed by removing the transmission pan to get to the control linkage shaft retainer.

The Autotran website:
http://www.autotran.us/fmkits1.html

The Youtube website to show how to replace the transmission shift seal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MGTw76w5YE

I have attached some pics of my front seal replacements and the pics with the white arrows indicate where the o'ring seals are placed.

This is a fairly difficult task to remove the transmission and replace the front seals, but it is doable provided you can raise and block your car up high enough to provide clearance from under the car when the transmission is removed (with a transmission jack if possible).

Good Luck,
Dave

[chapingo17]

Thank you so much great information.