I bought an ACDelco filter on ebay, for my automatic 99 cherokee. i got it today, the box and the cork gaskets look a little dry and old. (are they always cork? should it be rubber?) will this give me any problems... thanks for the help

 

Cork will eventually leak rubber/silicone gasket best you can get.

 

As far as I've seen, there are only cork gaskets available for the transmission pan. Unless the gasket you got is ripped or torn anywhere, I'd say use it.

 

GKI has rubber gaskets, I have one on mine

 

Thin film of RTV on both sides of cork pan gasket and ours doesn't leak a drop.

 

It will be fine.

And never use RTV on the gasket whether rubber or cork, it is not necessary and can cause more trouble than it is worth.

 

thanks for the help... the condition is good (no rips), so ill stick with this filter.

 

A thin film (not a bead) of RTV on both sides of the gasket will seal/fill small imperfections in both the gasket and mounting surface. Have never experienced a thin film of RTV causing a problem.

Forgot to mention, do not crank down hard on the pan bolts.....criss-cross pattern and just snug.

 

A thin film is just as bad as a bead. The chances of some RTV entering in the trans and causing problems is not worth the risk.
I have never had problems with leaking gaskets that have been torqued properly. I have however seen problems caused by RTV getting into places where it shouldn't be.

 

'98 FSM doesn't even discuss a pan gasket....it says apply sealer bead at least 1/8" wide to the pan. Imagine that.

 

Just drain and refill using the plug and quit arguing over RTV.

 

Lots of things use and recommend RTV or other gasket maker, don't mean you should stick it where it don't belong.
Transmissions have all kinds of neat little holes and such and don't do well when crap gets in em. Of course I've only done a couple hundred trans services with zero leaks come back and not one squeeze of goop.

 

That's what they rolled out of the factory with.
The aftermarket kits come with gaskets because people get sloppy with the RTV and Outlaw's concerns are valid if they make a mess with it.

 

Yeah. What did we do before RTV. Amazing, but we used gaskets and everything was just fine.

 

Lots of sealers before RTV.....RTV is a progression of improvement in sealers over the years. No such thing as a leaky XJ, right?

Just posting what I've done and what has worked very well for me for many years and also simply post what's stated in the FSM. My reasoning behind using a thin film of sealer with a gasket is that with a thin film, there is no "squeeze out" of sealer but small imperfections in a gasket and/or sealing surface will easily be sealed. Didn't say, never do this or never use that....simply stated the way I've sealed tranny pans (for 40+ years) and I too have never had a leak or seen sealer deposits inside the pan the next time it was removed. I've even opened up an old filter/screen or a couple of dozen or so and never seen sealer deposits (isn't that what a filter/screen is for....to catch any lumps?).

If u don't approve of the way I've successfully sealed tranny pans, that's fine, u r entitled to your opinion and certainly entitled to share with others what has successfully worked for u. I was simply sharing my info.....obviously there's more than one way to seal a tranny pan....including the factory stated/recommended/approved/suggested......use of a bead of sealer.

Look at the bright side....at least the filter in the OP isn't painted orange.