Hi folks!

Have a '99 ES that the wife has been driving. Recently she just came to me and said it had momentarily slipped while in gear on her twice while stopped at a stoplight. I checked the transmission fluid level, sure enough, it was almost 1-1/4 qts low [:@]. Checked underneath the car, entire bottom of car coated with transmission fluid. 1st thing I did, was checked the operation of the tranny after topping it off. Drives like a dream, no slippage, no strange noises (other than the usual ratcheting sound when changing gears), no shavings in transmission fluid on dipstick. Only thing bad, was that transmission fluid is light brown (burnt) instead of a healthy red.

I tried localizing where the leak is coming from. Because of the entire bottom being coated in fluid, it's kind of difficult. Cleaned up as much as I could with a degreaser and craploads of paper towels, and resnugged the rubber transmission-cooler line connections, since drops were forming at the bottoms of those (but that could be because they're pretty much the lowest point, and the fluid was just eventually running down to there). It appears also as if the transmission pan seal might be leaking - will replace that soon, along with new filter. However, after cleaning up, seems as if some fluid is leaking from (if under the car, looking from front-to-back) somewhere from the transm. housing just above and to the left of the transm. pan (almost as if it might be dripping from where the transm. cooler line fittings are screwed into the transm. housing. (hard to see that area). Any ideas/suggestions? Is there any specific area that might be prone to leak? Car only has 84k miles. With the fluid being as brown as it was, I would've normally been worried, however with it shifting as nicely as it does, seems I got to it before serious damage was done. And yes, I only use the ATF +4 tranny fluid.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Frosty


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I'd try to get it into the quarter car wash and hose everything down or get some of the spray engine degreaser and hose it down in the driveway ...
Let that dry and then get back to us ... I'm guessing that the tranny cooler hoses leaked under the plastic cover and traveled ...That and the pan gasket leak likely coated everything well ...
Our trannies run at pretty high heat and tend to "cook" the tranny fluid quickly , With your leak less fluid= higher temps hence the burnt color ...
One of the best mods is adding an extratranny cooler, helps lower temps greatly

 

My 97' Venger has been slipping bad at intersections also. I checked the fluid and it's full, but it's about the same color as my oil. Also it's been below freezing and it only seems to slip when it's not warmed up yet. Is that normal in cold temperatures or do I need to flush out that burnt fuild? I didn't notice any flakes by the way, but I wasn't looking for them. If the fuild needs changed I will probly just take it to a Jiffy Lube or something since I can't really work on my car where I live.

 

sorry to say, but usually a slipping tranny shows first when cold. new fluid is a must if you haven't changed it regularly. they usually don't mind if you change it on the lot (around back or side, out of the way) at your local parts store, provided you buy the stuff there. i don't like to take anything to a oil change place. you won't know what's in the pan if you don't see it. and look at how they dry start your motor when changing oil... just plain wrong.

 

Our Jiffy lube uses the machine to flush they remove the cooler hose and use that to pump old fluid out then it pushes new fluid in ...
Unfortunately they ruined my beaters tranny ...appears they used the wrong fluid ...

 

It hasn't been slipping lately with the warm weather, but I still wanted to change the fluid with it being that brown. Definitely no flakes on my dipstick though. I called Jiffy Lube and they want $70. They also said I would have to sign a waiver in case the trans breaks after they do it. He said if the fluid has never been changed before(I don't know if it has) there is like a 50/50 chance that my trans will go out afterwards. I called Grease Monkey and they didn't even want to do it, and then said $120 if they did.

The reason why I didn't want to do it myself is because I don't know much about cars. I've learned more reading this forum in the past month than I have the rest of my life, lol. Do I just need to shove a small hose down there and syphon it out or do I have to take stuff apart? Also after talking to both of the oil places i'm nervous about even changing it. There's no way I could afford a new trans. I'm also scared to take it to a shop and get charged rediculous just to look at it and tell me i'm screwed.

 

Unfortunately if you are slipping I'd say it is more than a 50% chance that changing WILL make the tranny worse...
With normal use the tranny fluid gets less slick , With new fluid the tranny will have better new fluid but will likely slip more ...
Truthfully it might be better to take it DIRECTLY to a tranny shop instead of a quick lube place

 

Hmm... I was hoping you would tell me about the transmission auto-repair button next to the defrost. Since it's been hot outside it's not slipping, so I might hold off on getting it checked because I can't really afford it now. At the same time I can't really afford a new car/trans either if it goes out.

 

Yeah I was wondering how much vibration are you feelin in your toes with the Manual Venges. Dog my toes are tingling at all the RPM ranges. Also at low rpms I hear a racheting noise I was wonderin if it wuz my input/output shaft or sumtin it makes sense. couse its sounds like a plastic rod inside a aluminum cup slapping around against each wall.

 

For those who arein cold weather, its normal to only have two gears until the fluid warms up to 72 to 80+ degs. There is a TSB for this. Also ck all cooler lines, solenoid pack gasket and the bell housing area ( front pump ), for leaks. These are the most common leaks.