Transmission pan torque specification

[pritongmanok]

Camry manual says transmission pan torque is 43 in-lbs. However, the instructions which came with the rubber gasket that I bought said to apply 120 in-lbs.

Initially, I applied 43 in-lbs. But the transmission pan leaked. Should I follow the gasket instructions instead ?

Any help is appreciated.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Welcome to Toyota Nation!

Let us know what year your Camry is and we'll move your thread to the appropriate forum

[pritongmanok]

My car is Camry 1998 4-cylinder.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by pritongmanok

My car is Camry 1998 4-cylinder.

Cool. I've moved this to the Gen 3 & 4 Camry forum for you. These guys know Camrys better than anyone . Best of luck.

[71Corolla]

My advise it so go by feel on these bolts. Use a 1/4" drive ratchet and tighten up the bolts until you feel resistance, then turn it a 1/2 turn or so more. It takes a bit of practice, but just remember to use a light touch. Run the car for a day, go back and snug up the bolts again (they tend to come slightly lose after running for a bit), then leave them.

Whatever you do, resist the urge to keep tightening the bolts over and over again if the gasket leaks, it will bend the pan eventually and ruin it. If the gasket keeps leaking, it's either a poor quality gasket or something else is wrong.

[Rattlin_Steele]

And also make sure you spread out the tightening sequence evenly around all 15 (IIRC) bolts and that the mating surfaces are extremely clean. Hopefully you don't already have a bent pan that's causing you problems. 120" lbs sounds a bit high IMO. I believe the spec is 48.

[pritongmanok]

Thanks for the advice. Both comments above were extremely helpful. I tightened the pan bolts a little bit, drove a few miles, and leak decreased considerably. I tighted bolts a little more, drove a few miles, and leaked stopped. In short, PROBLEM SOLVED - CASED CLOSED !

Maybe I should just use RTV next time instead of a gasket so I don't need to tighten the bolts as much. I'm afraid that I might strip the threads or damage the pan next time. I did not use RTV this time because I spent a lot of time removing the old gasket and RTV. Is using an RTV better in my situation ?