Puddle of trans fluid under the radiator
Puddle of trans fluid under the radiator I know its pretty pointless to post and I havent really had time to look underneath the car yet BUT I just wanted to throw this out here JUST INCASE maybe there was something I overlooked.
My 99 Z28 has been parked for about 2 weeks as I've been slowly changing the interior out. It hasn't been driven anywhere in that time period and its gotten fairly cold here.. with the lows in the 20's.. I went outside for the first time in 2 weeks and decided to crank it and just let it idle because it hasn't been driven in awhile and I dont want the battery to die. No issues cranking it up. I let it heat up to 210 degrees and just let it idle for about 10 - 15 minutes while it was at 210. Turned it off and got out the car.. I left then came back and noted a small puddle of fluid just under the nose of my car. looking under it goes directly to the passenger side of the radiator where the lower radiator hose connects to the radiator..I at first thought it was coolant so I warmed the car up again but I couldn't smell anti-freeze so I touched it and its red.. trans fluid.
Now my trans lines were modified as I have a cooler so it goes from my stock trans lines into AN-Fittings which connect to braided hoses and then to the inlet connector of the trans cooler of the RADIATOR then exit the outlet connector of the trans cooler of the radiator, then goes to my trans cooler via more braided hoses and then finally back out the outlet of my trans cooler back to another AN fitting on my stock trans lines...
Everything "seemed" tight from what I could reach but I havent had alot of time to mess with it or get under the car..so I am hoping my radiator didnt burst and release my trans fluid.. I was curious especially since my radiator is aluminum..is it possible that the cold weather could have caused the fitting to warp just enough to allow it to leak fluid?
My 99 Z28 has been parked for about 2 weeks as I've been slowly changing the interior out. It hasn't been driven anywhere in that time period and its gotten fairly cold here.. with the lows in the 20's.. I went outside for the first time in 2 weeks and decided to crank it and just let it idle because it hasn't been driven in awhile and I dont want the battery to die. No issues cranking it up. I let it heat up to 210 degrees and just let it idle for about 10 - 15 minutes while it was at 210. Turned it off and got out the car.. I left then came back and noted a small puddle of fluid just under the nose of my car. looking under it goes directly to the passenger side of the radiator where the lower radiator hose connects to the radiator..I at first thought it was coolant so I warmed the car up again but I couldn't smell anti-freeze so I touched it and its red.. trans fluid.
Now my trans lines were modified as I have a cooler so it goes from my stock trans lines into AN-Fittings which connect to braided hoses and then to the inlet connector of the trans cooler of the RADIATOR then exit the outlet connector of the trans cooler of the radiator, then goes to my trans cooler via more braided hoses and then finally back out the outlet of my trans cooler back to another AN fitting on my stock trans lines...
Everything "seemed" tight from what I could reach but I havent had alot of time to mess with it or get under the car..so I am hoping my radiator didnt burst and release my trans fluid.. I was curious especially since my radiator is aluminum..is it possible that the cold weather could have caused the fitting to warp just enough to allow it to leak fluid?
Could be anything man.....
A tiny pinhole in a line spraying fluid or either fitting on the radiator could be leaking.
If the radiator cracks you won't drip trans fluid......you will drip coolant. The lines inside the radiator for the trans fluid is a closed system.
Get rid of the lines going to the radiator.....just use the aftermarket cooler. By sending the fluid into the radiator you are heating up the trans fluid right before it goes into the aftermarket cooler. Totally defeating the purpose of the aftermarket cooler.
And no....you do not need to get the trans fluid HOT.....cooler the better. It will get plenty warm using just the aftermarket cooler.
I posted this question in the Transmission section. HOW COOL IS TOO COOL. And expert builders also PMed me.....you cannot run too cool.....TO A POINT of course. Just using an aftermarket cooler is all you need, going through the radiator cooks the fluid with 200+ degree coolant. That IS too hot for trans fluid.
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A tiny pinhole in a line spraying fluid or either fitting on the radiator could be leaking.
If the radiator cracks you won't drip trans fluid......you will drip coolant. The lines inside the radiator for the trans fluid is a closed system.
Get rid of the lines going to the radiator.....just use the aftermarket cooler. By sending the fluid into the radiator you are heating up the trans fluid right before it goes into the aftermarket cooler. Totally defeating the purpose of the aftermarket cooler.
And no....you do not need to get the trans fluid HOT.....cooler the better. It will get plenty warm using just the aftermarket cooler.
I posted this question in the Transmission section. HOW COOL IS TOO COOL. And expert builders also PMed me.....you cannot run too cool.....TO A POINT of course. Just using an aftermarket cooler is all you need, going through the radiator cooks the fluid with 200+ degree coolant. That IS too hot for trans fluid.
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I agree ^^^^^ The little GM fittings have O rings inside and they get hard and leak. Go from the trans to the X cooler.Make sure the cooler get air and you'll be golden. I've been doing transmission for 30+ yrs so........
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 34,643
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
Fluid-to-fluid coolers work much faster than air-to-fluid coolers, that's one advantage of the factory trans cooler inside the radiator - but, of course, that only works if your trans fluid temp is already higher than the coolant temp. This is unlikely to happen often if you have stock fan settings and a stock t-stat, however if you have modifications that keep your coolant cooler than stock then there may still be benefits to the factory cooler (especially if you have a setup that tends to rapidly and considerably heat the trans fluid - such as a ton of power and a big stall speed.) Trans fluid can easily get above 200°F with a big stall and lots of power, so if your coolant temps are below that point then you'll get a bit of rapid cooling from the stock cooler prior to the fluid entering the air-to-fluid aftermarket cooler. Some of us have chosen to go this route, whether or not it makes sense depends on the application.
There are also benefits to the "warming" effect of the factory cooler in very cold weather (for folks in the north who still use these cars as daily drivers.) Getting the trans up to operating temp quicker on those super cold days is not a bad thing. Remember, it can get well below 0°F in the north.
The debate between factory cooler deletion and retention will never end. I don't agree with the idea that one answer is right for all situations. Though I will agree that keeping the factory cooler with factory fan settings is not doing you any favors in the summer time.
There are also benefits to the "warming" effect of the factory cooler in very cold weather (for folks in the north who still use these cars as daily drivers.) Getting the trans up to operating temp quicker on those super cold days is not a bad thing. Remember, it can get well below 0°F in the north.
The debate between factory cooler deletion and retention will never end. I don't agree with the idea that one answer is right for all situations. Though I will agree that keeping the factory cooler with factory fan settings is not doing you any favors in the summer time.
Thanks for the input. I may consider remediating all of that, but that will require new hoses and right now I'm not really ready to foot the bill for it given I already have alot of other things I'm doing to it plus I'm moving to a new home... I just need to fix this as quickly and cheaply as possible as I don't want trans fluid in the new garage. It's been fine for alittle over a year and this is after even running the transmission completely dry of fluid once so I'm not too worried about overheating it. That will change though if I stall it.
Meanwhile - I got under it after running the car for another 5 minutes and quickly found the source of the leak. The trans-line coming from the external cooler meets the stock line with some AN fittings. It is leaking right at the fitting where the braided line comes into the AN fitting, however; after tightening and retightening, it did not help.. It doesn't "seem" like the hose is punctured in any way I can tell and the fitting over the hose itself is still very tight... Any ideas?
Meanwhile - I got under it after running the car for another 5 minutes and quickly found the source of the leak. The trans-line coming from the external cooler meets the stock line with some AN fittings. It is leaking right at the fitting where the braided line comes into the AN fitting, however; after tightening and retightening, it did not help.. It doesn't "seem" like the hose is punctured in any way I can tell and the fitting over the hose itself is still very tight... Any ideas?
