I have a 2001 Durango 4.7 that I continue to have transmission problems with. Today I dropped the pan again, changed both filters and added fluid. After I cycled the gears and checked the fluid level while in neutral, I went for a test drive.

When I pulled back into the garage and popped the hood I had fluid being flung by the fan belt. I stopped the motor and started looking for the location of the leak and can't determine where it is coming from. I did notice that the fan blades were dry and the moisture was only on the back half of the pulleys. I did see a drip on the lowest pulley (balancer?), on the driver side, and tried to dry off all moisture to see where it was coming from, couldn't determine the origin.

I put a clean drip pan to catch the drips (and keep the floor clean) to try and determine the type of fluid. It has a faint tint of color but still can't determine the fluid.

Could the water pump be going bad, causing the drip to remain on the back half of the belt and pulleys?

 

since your having tranny problems, check to see if it's tranny fluid coming from one of the cooler lines going to the radiator leaking

without knowing what fluid it is it's going to be very hard for us to help

 

What is the color? Is it thick like an oil or is it just watery?

 

I did look at the cooler lines and they were covered in old grime, no fresh fluid or leaks found. The lines don't run close enough to the belt to be picked up and blown around.

The color seems to me to be mostly orangish but there was also red on the drip pan. The fluid is oily in feel, couldn't really tell when my hands were dirty yesterday.

When I checked the fluid level on the tranny I also checked the power steering fluid and the level was good. Thought of this because of the same fluid being used. The oil level was low though. I changed the oil about six weeks ago and level was good. I haven't been burning oil and never had to add oil between changes.

Blown oil seal in the front of the motor?

 

check your coolant level too, the orange color could be from antifreeze

 

The coolant was low also.

I don't see any evidence of milky oil on the dipstick.

 

you're probably leaking coolant then. check around your water pump for leaks

 

I replaced the water pump and filled the coolant up. I had to return a loaner tool and then went up the same hill that caused me to throw codes. I didn't have any codes and no liquid being flung by the belt.

I learned that the antifreeze is redish in color (doesn't help when you have just been working with red ATF). It also has an oily feel that I don't remember antifreeze having.

Thanks for the help "that guy" and "dsolorio".

 

good job, and glad to see you got the problem fixed.


just an fyi: depending on the brand of antifreeze it could be yellow, green, red, orange, or some other color too