Transmission Problems?
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Transmission Problems?
I have a 2000 5.4 V8 2wd, we were driving through some small mountains and started smoking. We pulled off the road to check and there was a leak of red liquid....it left a puddle in the parking lot, my wife drove through the parking lot and when she stopped it left another puddle and was steadily dripping. We had a neighbor come and get us and haul the X back. No dripping after a couple of days....drove it up and down our back road and checked the ATF level, it was full...there was a very slow drip from somewhere. Power steering fluid level full. When our neighbor drove it up the ramps onto his trailer he said it didn't want to drive....no problems making it go on our road.
What would make it leak after driving an hour and a half through hills...but not in our driveway and on our back road? The ATF cooling lines were not rusty....how do I troubleshoot this?
Thanks, Shawn
What would make it leak after driving an hour and a half through hills...but not in our driveway and on our back road? The ATF cooling lines were not rusty....how do I troubleshoot this?
Thanks, Shawn
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Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Media PA
Welcome to the EX forum! 
Was the leak coming from the bottom of the trans bell housing? If so, it sounds like the classic leaky front seal on the trans. That seal gets hard over time (your EX is 21 years old) and when it gets hot, like running in the hills can do, it begins to leak, often dripping right on the exhaust and causing a smoke show. Many times once it cools back down it will seal properly again under normal operation but may leak again in high load and heat situations. There is a better Viton seal that can be swapped in to replace it as long as the shaft that it rides on hasn't been scored, but the trans needs to be removed to get access to the seal.
Was the leak coming from the bottom of the trans bell housing? If so, it sounds like the classic leaky front seal on the trans. That seal gets hard over time (your EX is 21 years old) and when it gets hot, like running in the hills can do, it begins to leak, often dripping right on the exhaust and causing a smoke show. Many times once it cools back down it will seal properly again under normal operation but may leak again in high load and heat situations. There is a better Viton seal that can be swapped in to replace it as long as the shaft that it rides on hasn't been scored, but the trans needs to be removed to get access to the seal.
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So if it reseals do I need to worry about replacing the seal...or is this one of those "do it before it melts down" kind of problems. And is replacing the seal something a novice with the right tools can do?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 1,314
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From: TN
Moderator
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12,055
Likes: 1,559
From: Media PA
I think it could go either way......... If it does leak again and gets some debris between the sealing surface and the input shaft it could score the shaft and that would mean more new parts than the Viton seal.
I haven't done the job but I think it should be fairly straight forward job, just have to deal with the large and heavy transmission.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,812
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From: Thousand Oaks, CA
Keeping the trans temps down when on hills or towing will keep the fluid/seal cooler and the seal probably won't leak again.
The much larger aux cooler used for the 5R110 tans is a good upgrade and is a fairly easy install.
Backing up a long distance can cause a similar issue with the lack of cooling airflow thru the coolers.
An OBD port monitor/display (i.e. ScanGauge) can provide a much better display of trans fluid temp versus the 3-positon "gauge" on the dash.
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