fourthgenlove

transmission shifts perfectly fine, but is leaking horribly, I cannot seem to see where the leak is coming from. I lost engine braking a while back but caused no drivability issues. this however is a very bad leak, causing smoking(leak is on passenger side, causing transmission fluid to run onto catalytic converter) I have crawled under car and looked around and did not see any droplets, wiped everything clean and will have to have a look tomorrow. I did notice ontop of the pan on the passenger side there is a connector, the plastic tube covering it had clean fluid halfway up it, but I followed the hose and it is bone dry from the top of the transmission and onward towards the engine. any ideas?? I have always hated that red goopy Lucas, but I'm thinking of trying it, any ideas? this car is draining me dry >_< car is 1995 transam

mrvedit

There are two "openings" on the passenger side.
One is the dip stick tube which fits into a rubber grommet; make sure it is fully inserted into the grommet. It is not very difficult to replace the grommet if needed.
The second is the electrical connector. Fixing this is a bit trickier, especially on a Gen-4 with tight clearance above the connector.

Just to be complete, there is also a vent on top of the trans; if the trans or converter overheat, the vent can blow out ATF.

EDIT: As jjyellow points out below, there are also cooling line and the servo cover. And the most obvious thing to check first is the pan gasket.

fourthgenlove

I looked at the dipstick and it looked to be fully inserted and the grommet was not torn as I could see, should I give it a good tug to be certain?? and what is the possibility of a blown seal?? or would I be experiencing shifting issues? Is there anyway to test this electrical connector or is it one of those throw a part at it and hope kind of things?

mrvedit

There is a front seal which if blown will cause ATF to leak out the bottom of the bell housing.
There is a rear seal which if blown will cause ATF to leak out near the drive shaft.

Replacing the electrical connector is not trivial, so try to determine if the leak is there. If you can grab the connector (generally with a long arm from behind the trans) try to estimate how much it moves up and down. It should only be about 1/16" inch; much more would indicate that the plastic tabs on the trans connector are broken which will cause the O-ring to unseat and leak.

fourthgenlove

Can I take the bellhousing off and check the front seal? I think I need to drop the pan to do so, and its not leaking around the driveshaft, its coming from up front somewhere. How hard are the front seals to change?? have to drop the whole trans??

mrvedit

No, you cannot remove the bell housing; don't need to either.
The bottom of the bell housing has an inspection plate; pop that out and look inside for ATF or just feel around with your finger.

I'm a bit confused now - you said it is leaking horribly. It would then drip out of the inspection plate. I am confused by your statement "the plastic tube covering it had clean fluid halfway up it". What are you referring to?

The pan gasket could be leaking too.

jjyellow

passenger side possiblity also: coolant lines, servo cover or wire harness

jjyellow

front seal will require removal of the transmission

mrvedit

Thank you for that - I forgot to mention the cooling lines and servo cover. What you call the wire harness I called the trans connector.

fourthgenlove

I did not see an inspection plate, I will look again tomorrow, it does leak horribly, but only when driving, I even put car in D and crawled under and watched for drips. The plastic tube Im talking about covers the wires of the connector you mentioned earlier, Its located behind the dipstick toward the rear of the car. There was very bright red fluid all over it about 5 inches up and then it was bone dry, like fluid was sprayed from the connector opening, but I felt around the connector and it wasnt very wet at all. Im pretty quick at learning new things, but I dont know if I want to drop the tranny by myself :/ I will climb under car after work tomorrow.