YACT: auto transmission leaking

[BHeemsoth]

today i drove my car, and when i got home i realized a nice puddle of ATF under the front/middle of the tranny. the atf was light brown in color (not red). The leak only appears to occur while in drive, and not in neutral or park, which leads me to believe that a seal is not what is at fault.

the car is an 89 ramcharger with a 318.

any ideas on what may be wrong, and the cost of repairs? hopefully a new transmission is not necessary

 

[slag]

When you crawled under there, what did you see? You said its a ram charger, so it should have plenty of clearance since I've never ever ever seen a stock ramcharger (Everybody lifts them)

At any rate, if its coming from the bellhousing area, chances are you've blown your transmission pump.

There is a decent chance however that its just your overflow/breather tube

It could be coming from the seal on your linkage but generally thats just a few drops, not a puddle.

Are your pan bolts coming loose? Maybe its seeping past your gasket?

 

[ElFenix]

sounds like you need new fluid anyway

 

[BHeemsoth]

bump, more input needed. TIA

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: slag
When you crawled under there, what did you see? *snip*

 

[BHeemsoth]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: slag
When you crawled under there, what did you see? *snip*

havent gotten a chanec to crall all the way under because it was raining and i was in my work clothes, but the underside of the transmission was wet with ATF.

 

Blown tranny pumps do not leak, torque convertor seals do.

Here's what you do ;

With a can of engine cleaner, crawl under your vehicle and liberally soak the entire undercarriage where there is oil, hose it down and let it dry off, now start your vehicle, leave it in park and let it fuully warm up.
Now crawl under and check for fluid leakage, if none is found, shift the tranny from park to treverse and so on until you hit low, wait 5 seconds between each shift, do this twice, crawl back under and again check for leaks, if none are found carefully check the dipstick tube for wetness.

If everything is still dry, drive the vehicle around the block once, keep doing this until the leak shows up.

Possible points of leakage ;

Tail shaft (driveshaft)seal, easy fix, remove driveshaft and replace seal.

Transmission pan seal, easy fix, drop pan, replace filter and reinstall pan with new gasket.

Fluid found dripping from bellhousing, leaking torque convertor seal, difficult fix, transmission is removed, torque convertor is removed, seal is replaced, torque convertor and tranny reinstalled.

OIl is being forced out of either the breather tube (found on top of tranny) or the dipstick tube, difficult to repair, this indicates excessive pressure, a plugged breather tube or a overfilled tranny, drive vehicle to a repair shop.

 

[BHeemsoth]

bump

 

Why are you bumping, you have your answer in detail.

 

[BHeemsoth]

Originally posted by: Roger
Why are you bumping, you have your answer in detail.

Your right, I was just looking for some more suggestions on what to look for when i crawled under. It turned out to be the transmission pan seal. the gasket was so shot that i was able to pull the bolts out with my fingers. Ill go to NAPA or autozone tomorrow and pick up a new seal.

Thanks Roger and everyone else

Brian

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: rpbri2886

Originally posted by: Roger
Why are you bumping, you have your answer in detail.

Your right, I was just looking for some more suggestions on what to look for when i crawled under. It turned out to be the transmission pan seal. the gasket was so shot that i was able to pull the bolts out with my fingers. Ill go to NAPA or autozone tomorrow and pick up a new seal.

Thanks Roger and everyone else

Brian

:Q

That's not really the seals fault.. Either the bolts worked loose, or the last person to have the pan down didn't torque the bolts correctly. My bet is the the latter.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: Roger
Blown tranny pumps do not leak, torque convertor seals do.

Here's what you do ;

With a can of engine cleaner, crawl under your vehicle and liberally soak the entire undercarriage where there is oil, hose it down and let it dry off, now start your vehicle, leave it in park and let it fuully warm up.
Now crawl under and check for fluid leakage, if none is found, shift the tranny from park to treverse and so on until you hit low, wait 5 seconds between each shift, do this twice, crawl back under and again check for leaks, if none are found carefully check the dipstick tube for wetness.

If everything is still dry, drive the vehicle around the block once, keep doing this until the leak shows up.

Possible points of leakage ;

Tail shaft (driveshaft)seal, easy fix, remove driveshaft and replace seal.

Transmission pan seal, easy fix, drop pan, replace filter and reinstall pan with new gasket.

Fluid found dripping from bellhousing, leaking torque convertor seal, difficult fix, transmission is removed, torque convertor is removed, seal is replaced, torque convertor and tranny reinstalled.

OIl is being forced out of either the breather tube (found on top of tranny) or the dipstick tube, difficult to repair, this indicates excessive pressure, a plugged breather tube or a overfilled tranny, drive vehicle to a repair shop.

when my pump went out it leaked past my pump seal and out the seal that mates the bell housing to the actual transmission. It was a real mess.