knew it was a red power steering fluid. didnt have the research though lol

 

Tranny fluid. If it was power steering, after it was leaking a while (or in large amounts) it would be mighty hard to turn the wheel. Also the PS pump makes some pretty noticeable noises when its low or dry.

Guys he's got an 01. My service manual says he should have an aux cooler stock, which is between the rad and heater condensor. Thats got to be whats leaking. He stated in op that it was coming from under the rad support, which is theoretically where it would drain to. Then its picked up by the fan... yada yada yada... you know the rest

Try this: Top off the tranny fluid, then get a rag or towel you dont care about, and mop up every last bit of the fluid you can.

Take a step back and look straight at the front of the truck. You should see a rectangle that looks like a small radiator, this is your heater condensor. To the left of it you should see 2 lines that run up at an odd angle (almost 45 degree angle). These are your tranny fluid lines, they run to your cooler, which is between the heater condensor and the rad.

Get a a flashlight (and a few beers) and peer down in there. It might be necessary to bend the little plastic "skirt" thing behind the condensor so you can get a good look at it. Do your best to wipe the fluid off the cooler too.

Have someone else start the truck EDIT:and put it in neutral while you keep a close eye on the transmission cooler lines (specifically where they meet the cooler) it might be necessary to let the truck reach operating temp, Im not sure if the fluid circulates continuously to the cooler or not. Also note that air probably got up in there, so it may be a short while before fluid showers out.

Im willing to bet one of those lines got loose or sprung a leak, or the body of the cooler got cracked somehow. Either way its the most likely source of the problem

Good luck
Mad_Sci

whoops, didnt notice the date of this thread, just did a long write up for nothing probably lol

 

I don't think fluid circulates thru the cooler until you take it out of park. (neutral should be good enough.)

 

You're probably right, I tried checking the manual for fluid flow in park before i wrote that up.... that diagram made my brain cry lol. I grasp the concept of how a tranny works pretty well, but whoever made that diagram must have been angry that day.

If the op still wants to try my method for locating the leak: after having you buddy start the truck tell him to shift into neutral while youre looking at the cooler.

 

yes it was the aux cooler so I ditched that and routed it through my new rad. diden't cool it eneff the first time I plowed the trans temp light came on within five mins so I got a new aux cooler from napa and ran it in series with the stock cooler and proab solved also deleted the check valve in the process runs nice and cool now!!!

 

Sweet man, glad you got it taken care of

 

maybe your truck is on the rag :P maybe get a tampon for it

 

Dude that thing is constantly raggin But I still love her!!