Okay fellas, 01 Rango 5.9L 46RE Auto is having a pretty decent trans fluid leak which is coming from between the engine and tranny (I will include a picture below). Any tips on what's going on here and how to repair? Either way it's looking like the trans will need dropped, which leads me to my next questions. While driving, the truck "kicks" (I can feel the trans hesitating to shift) as it's goes from 1st to 2nd (around 10 mph) and 3rd to 4th gears (around 40 mph) while accelerating at lower RPM's, such as driving in a parking lot versus if I was getting on a highway ramp. So I think I remember reading somewhere online that this is caused by solenoids which need to be replaced, so I figured I'd do it while I have the tranny pulled out to fix the leak. I don't remember what the solenoids are or if that's even the problem but any help is appreciated. Now I also notice when going through parking lots or driving in 1st and 2nd gears there is a loud clunk when it shifts (can't tell if it's downshifting or not). Please help with whatever you can and give me any leads or answers you may have. Thanks.

 

Gonna be the front pump, or the seal between the torque converter, and the pump....... Yep, gotta drop the trans.