HELP!! Tranny problem
 

I drove to work this morning (1.3 mile ride) and when I get out of my car I notice steam coming from under the hood. At first I thought it was just because the engine was warm and the air cold but when I sniffed it the odor was more like something burning. I popped the hood and notice that the drivers side of the lower engine compartment was all wet. A look under the car showed a large puddle of red fluid that was being burned off the catalytic converters. I half expected the car to catch fire but she cooled off enough that she stopped smoking after 15 minutes or so (the sizzling and crackling sounds really scared me).

Brake fluid is full as is the steering fluid. Tranny dipstick does not register. A friend here watched the engine bay while I fired her up and you could hear a spraying sound from under the drivers side cylinder head. He also said he could see the fluid spraying over the crossmember. It sounds like a hose of some sort but why would one be under the engine head there? I thought the hoses that ran from the tranny to the radiator and back were on the passenger side of the engine bay. Needless to say I am afraid to drive it the one mile to the dealer and think I'll have to have it towed. What really sucks is I was going to take it to the dealer tomorrow morning to have them work on the transfer clutch and tranny anyway. :rolleyes:

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated :confused:

ok
 

it sounds like ur tranny lines, they run from the rad to the tranny on the left side of the car, right where your leak is coming from, i hope its an easy fix for ya....

Yeah, almost for sure it's a loose or cracked tranny hose, should be a cheap fix, and a good time to replace the external tranny filter(if yours has one). Not to mention you'll have a lot of fresh fluid when you fill her back up:)

Yes there are two short rubber hoses in the area you mentioned. One is the supply to the radiator and the other is the return. Under the engine block are the two metal lines that connect to the rubber hoses. I hope you find a cracked hose as this sounds a little strange unless someone worked on the hoses recently.

Thanks, guys!
 

No work on that area that I'm aware of. Kinda hard to see what is going on under that area as there is little clearance but depending on the pressure in the lines it's possible that the rubber section may have blown right off the end of the steel tubing. Will find out soon after I get it towed. I refuse to drive it even a short distance. :(

You could jack up the front driver's side and replace the hoses very easily. Any auto parts store should carry them. Depending on whether you have an external filter or not, you'd either need 2 or 3 pieces of hoses.

KuoH

The pressure inthose hose is supposd to be low. Around 60 psi max I think. There is a pressure regulator in the tranny that drops it down.

I'm waiting for the next chapter in this story. I hope all is well now (or soon).

If the tranny gets too low on fluid there won't be enough oil for the torque converter and at that point you're not going anywhere.

(found out the hard way)