This is what I do when putting on a new gasket on trans pan, I put the gasket on dry, meaning no rtv silicone on gasket, after I have tightened down all the bolts I take some rtv silicone and go around the pan where the pan gasket and transmission case meet, basicaly around the sides where the top of the pan meets the gasket and transmission case, I then let it dry for 12 to 18 hours, I also do not add the new trans fluid, I wait for 12 to 18 hours, I want a tight seal and do not want to risk the chance of atf seeping pass the rtv while it is drying, then 12 to 18 hours later I add the trans fluid, the reason I thought of this years ago is that I was frustrated with the gasket leaking after 6 months, as always sometimes the bolts will get a little loose but with this method you will not have any trans fluid leaking, I do the same trick on my valve covers and have never had any leaks, I also did the same thing on my oil pan, my thinking is also that the rtv covering the gaskets sides keeps any road junk from getting up on the sides of the gaskets, Frank's product has worked so well on my engine and transmission that I wanted to pass this tip along to everyone on this board, remember the cork gaskets on the trans pans eventually get very hard and brittle so they are not pliable which lets the trans fluid escape, one time I used an rtv that was kind of clear eventually you could see the fluid color in the rtv, but the fluid could not escape, I hope this helps anyone that is having any problems with there transmission pans that are leaking.
Frank, another thing I did when I replaced 5 quarts of fluid was to make sure all the pan bolts were tight, a few of them were loose so I tightened them down, so as not to confuse anyone this was done a couple of days later after the above post.
Frank, on last drain I checked all the bolts on the trans pan and only one was a little loose, my thinking is that we should probably be checking the bolts on our trans pans each time we change our oil.
GM did that in the 1980's on there valve cover gaskets and I forget what else, if it works for you on your trans pan not using a gasket, then great. But it did not work on those valve covers, but I will say this in your defense, every time I have taken my trans pan off the gasket was very hard, I can see your idea working if both the trans pan and the transmission case are the same metal, but my transmission case is aluminum and my pan is steel, 2 disimilar metals that expand and contract differently.
