I have a 1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L V6. It's all PreRunner'd out, but the engine and transmission is original.

Anyways, I was driving down the street the other day and suddenly I see black smoke coming from behind my truck. I stop immediatly and check under the engine and all I see is liquid pouring out. At first I thought it was oil, but I later found out it was the transmission fluid.

I got it towed back to my house and already talked to some guy at a shop and he said that I might need a transmission overhaul which runs about $2G. After later inspection by myself and a friend we discovered it was the gasket that is behind the oil changing screw and infront of the oil pan.

My dad noticed that there was a piece missing right in the middle and I saw it before, but since it was right in the middle it looked like it was suppose to be there. That is why the fluid just came out, so now that I believe I know the problem I am going to have to call a few places to get estimates on how much it is going to cost to fix it. Has anyone ever had this problem before, since I know it isn't something that happens very often. Also, if so how much do you think it would cost to fix? I know the labor is goingto be more since that gasket is probably a few dollars, but I don't think I need a transmission overhaul.

Like I said it is a 94' PreRunner and has about 82,000 Miles on it and it is 2WD, Auto Transmission. Thanks for any info that anyone can share.

 

All you can do is get a load of estimates.


Unless you live down the road from me--possible, but doubtful--what prices I could give IF I had a slushbox won't mean a thing.

Since you did the right thing and towed it home, you may be right that you only need the gasket swapped in.

If that's the case, great and good luck.

 

What you are looking at seems to be a shim and not a gasket. There would be no gasket in the location shown as it would serve no useful purpose; the torque converter is in that bellhousing and is surrounded by air. That being the case, and since it's not in front of me, I'd have to speculate that the front seal on the tranny (pump) or another seal on the pump blew. Assuming this to be correct, the tranny will have to be dropped for confirmation and seal replacement. A blown seal is not justification by any means for a tranny rebuild.

 

Cowboy is right on the money, It's a seal or the front pump. It may be possible to fix it but, you mentioned it's all pre runnered out and has a few miles on it. I would assume that it's probably pretty tired about now after pushing some big tires. If it is fixable you might only get another 10k out of it tops if your lucky. Since you have to pull it to get it fixed either way, i would get it rebuilt. $2g is steep, shop around and see if that could get cheaper.