So I got the apparently common connector sleeve leak on my transmission. I followed the amazing directions posted by another member and so far it was going great until I got to the point of pushing the white plastic locking piece that locks in the new connector. It won;t budge. I believe that I have the sleeve in correctly. Could I have pulled the sleeve out to far? Could there be some obstruction?How can I fix this problem .I appreciate any help given. Thanks.

 

The sleeve is not seated correctly! You really need to push and twist, making sure the indents are aligned
correctly.

 

To add to this. Did you lube the sleeve o-rings with Vaseline or trans fluid? (Either is ok) did you align the tab on the sleeve with the electrical connector?

You need to get the sleeve in all the way - with the electrical connector on the sealing sleeve and locked you must only have 2mm to 3mm clearance. The sleeve can be a royal PITA to install, even with the o-rings lubed.

Try a 2 X 4 block of wood and a pry bar to apply even pressure to the sealing sleeve when inserting it.

Also, the white tab will not go up until the sleeve is fully inserted into the housing. (Sweet spot) you can't push the sleeve in too far. Do not force the white connector.

I hope these tips help

 

CAUTION: Rick and I learned the hard way that you can indeed push the white plastic locking lever into place WITHOUT the new sleeve being seated all the way into place. We made that mistake on my wife's XK8 when we did the pan/sleeve/ATF refresh in July 2013. We did not realize that the sleeve was still about one-quarter to one-half inch shy of being properly seated when the white plastic locking lever allowed itself to be pushed all the way up into place. The unfortunate result was a slow-drip leak that had to be resolved about 400 miles and ten days later by draining the ATF again, removing the new pan, firmly pushing the sleeve into its fully-seated position, reinstalling the new pan, and then refilling the transmission with the ATF that we had saved plus another half-litre that had leaked out....

Lesson learned - check that new sleeve to make certain it is FULLY SEATED before you push the white plastic locking lever up into place and button up the pan. DO NOT assume that the new sleeve is in its proper position just because you can push the lever all the way up....

 

Good points.

A good way to know the sleeve is fully seated is to connect the harness connector and lock it into the sleeve and measure the distance from the trans case to the edge of the plastic harness connector - should be no more than 3mm width - if the distance is greater / then the sleeve is not properly seated.

I also did the same, installed sleeve and pushed the white tab up and said "wow, that was easy" - sure enough I measured 4mm - luckily I test fitted before reinstalling the pan.

Had to pull the sleeve out and re-fit it..