-'93 F150 XLT-

hey team! driving along, trans began to slip slightly then obviously. smoke bellowed from beneath rear of vehicle in streams of steam on both sides as i waited at a traffic light. truck couldn't go any further after about another mile +. while waiting for tow truck a "big brother" F250 XLT pulled up to tow me back out of the intersection i had made it to. <> he suggested a loss of all trans fluid b/c of noticed spray all over rear window. trans case under hood has fluid though. bowtie type junction in middle of axle has stains from fluid release. there was trans fluid dripping from undercarriage in rear upon inspection at the final stop, but not specific enough to see where it was exactly coming from.

is this a bad gasket? or has my tranny gone and died? you can hear movement with test of gearshift, but there's no engagement when vehicle is running. what am i dealing with? is this something i can fix myself?

guess i'd better get a haynes guide.

thanx for the insight and help!!!

-Dad's Truck-

 

Haynes manual is a good idea.

There could be several reasons for a large fluid leak. You could have lost a tranny cooler line, could have overheated the tranny...gaskets usually don't blow out on the auto trannies, but who knows.

The best thing to do is clean everything up, get rid of all the oil and grease. Check the tranny cooler lines (I'm pretty sure you have one, goes to the radiator) for leaks/damage. Re-fill the tranny with fluid, it takes quite a bit, and make sure you check the fluid level in neutral while the engine is running. It doesn't sound like you blew the tranny just yet, sounds like you just didn't have the fluid necessary to move it since it leaked out.