Hey,

I serviced my transmission in my 2013 Mazda 2. It used RTV from the factory, but I got a felpro gasket to use as the replacement. I torqued the bolts down to what was recommended in the manufacturers manual which was 8 ft lbs.

But, it’s started leaking from one part of the pan. I took it to a coworker’s house who has much more to experience than me. Replaced it with a rubber gasket because I couldn’t find felpro. He noticed slight bend in the rim and straightened it out. Then, we torqued back down to specs.

It started leaking again. So, I got a new transmission pan and about to install it tomorrow. Both times I’ve torqued down with the gasket, I’ve noticed that part of the gasket has split in a few areas. But, it hasn’t always leaked from there. Just one particular corner.

My questions are somewhat open ended.

1. Without photos, because I didn’t take them initially, what might I have done wrong? It’s been the same corner both times, and this is the corner with the bend, so that might be the only issue, but I’m unsure.

2. If the manufacturer used torque specs for the pan being used with RTV, do they still apply when using a gasket?

I’d use RTV but cleaning up the factory stuff was so painful I’d rather not. We also can’t wait the full 24 hours you’re supposed to in order for the RTV to cure fully.