My 92 Eddie Bauer 4.0 A4LD just dumped out all her tranny fluid (pink and pretty ) all over the street in front of our mailbox. I was stopped for all of 10 seconds and there is close to a qt. on the ground . There is also a trail of fluid running down the street to the puddle and a trail from the puddle to the driveway - and a puddle under the van. Checked the fluid level and she is DRY

My question is this: Can I just add more tranny fluid till it's full so I can get to work 20 miles away? I would also check and add fluid as needed prior to driving home.

The tranny was rebuilt 4 years ago and I still have a year left on the warranty, but I feel certain they won't be able to get me in tomorrow. I really need to get to work as long as it won't destroy my Aero.

Advice is desperately needed!

TIA,
aerostargal

 

Bad news for you: you can't drive it like this. You can refill it, and it will very likely move, but when it runs low on fluid again, you will lose hydraulic pressure to the bands and clutches, and if you continue to drive it under load, those clutches will slip and can burn up, in a very short period of time.

Right now, you likely have one of these problems: cooler line broken or otherwise leaking, front pump seal (torque converter seal) is leaking, or torque converter itself is leaking. Those are the most likely things; less likely is the front pump mounting gasket or a porosity in the casting.

These most likely causes are all fairly cheap to fix. The most expensive one would be the torque converter replacement, with a total 2WD cost of around $500 by a professional. The cheapest would be a cooler line broken, which might cost as little as $30.

But, if you drive it low on oil and burn a clutch, now you're talking at least $2k for a shop to fix it.

Plus, your van is now a rolling EPA Superfund site.

So, don't drive it. Have it towed to wherever it needs to go, do not drive it.

[I had my trans rebuilt 60k ago by Portland's "Transmission Exchange" (not recommended) and its TC seal died suddenly one very hot morning about 15k later. I carefully burnished the TC's hub, installed a silicone orange high-temp seal, and I've run it another 45k miles with not a single drop out the front.]

Regards,
Al S.

 

Al,
Thanks for your quick and very concise reply. Although, it wasn't what I wanted to hear I got the answer I was looking for.

I'm going to have the trans shop tow her away tomorrow and have hubby drive me to work, then I drive back home in his truck (Ford, of course!) in time for the kids to get home from school. Then we will pick up hubby from work in the evening.

Even though it sucks, it WILL work out.

Thanks again,
aerostargal

 

Better go out to steaks for dinner. You'll need the energy