I have a very strange situation with my 94 Explorer 4 wheel drive automatic trans. This has happened to me two years ago and then again last week. I was driving down the road when I saw a large cloud of smoke behind my vehicle. I pulled over and found transmission fluid sprayed all over the underside of the vehicle. The smoke was coming from fluid that sprayed onto the exhaust. There was fluid all over the transmission and all the way back to the steel plate that protects the gas tank. I checked the fluid level and found it to be down about a quart. The same thing happened two years ago and hasn't happened again until last week. The only thing that both events had in common was that I was pulling a trailer each time. I have pulled the same trailer multiple times between the two events and had no problems. I wiped everything off and again drove the vehicle. The only trans leak that I can find is a small amount of seepage where the bell housing bolts to the engine. I changed the vacuum modulator last year because I was getting fluid in some of my vacuum lines. I am lost and don't have any ideas what could be going on. Any information that you guys can give me would be very appreciated. Thank You.

 

The transmission is overheating from the load. If your load is too heavy or offers too much wind drag she'll overheat and blow fluid out the vent. Is your TCC lock up working? Try a fluid flush and fill or maybe a bigger trans cooler.

 

I'm with savagefan on this one.
Tranny fluid expands a LOT with heat (hence the different fill level marks on the trans dipstick for cold & hot on some models). If it overheats, it continues to expand, even getting along the vent pipe and blowing out the vent holes placed at the highest point.
Cooked trans fluid is NOT good for your tranny; you should get a proper flush done ASAP (instructions are on this site if you want to do it yourself; search the articles section or go to a good trany shop and have them do it) and change the tranny filter, especially if you tow regularly and haven't changed the filter since your problem first happened 2 years ago.
While you're doing this you can decide if you want to swap out the tranny cooler at the same time. The cooler your tranny runs the better for long trouble free life so for me personally I'd put a bigger cooler on ANYTHING that I use for towing but that's just my $0.02. If $$ is an issue for you, I'd suggest doing the filter & flush first because getting clean, unburned fluid and a clean filter back into your trans has to be the priority right now.
Replacing the cooler with a bigger one is not a huge job even tackled on it's own and can be done without having to buy all new fluid again, just topping up what's lost from breaking into the cooler lines.

 

Thanks guys for your response. I'll flush the trans. I like doing things myself whenever possible. I'll have to research the procedure and give it a try. If not I'll hire it out. The bigger cooler also makes sense. Is the filter generally inside the pan? Thanks again. Jon

PS Savagefan I'm not sure what a TCC lockup is.

 

Filter is in the pan TCC =torque converter clutch. Trannies run hotter when not locked up on the hiway. The control solenoid for it is accessible after you remove the pan. R&R procedure is detailed on this site. Diagnose carefully before spending money. Good luck.

 

I'm was searching for a transmission leak and I found this thread. I just bought my 93 Ford from a dealer and I came home tonight and noticed a puddle (o.k. the circle is big, but it's not full) of transmission oil under my car. I looked underneath and there were many places with drops of transmission fluid. When I was driving it today, I thought I smelled something burning, but didn't see anything. I guess it was the transmission fluid hitting the muffler. Anyways, I know that they replaced the rear main seal before I bought it because it was leaking oil. Could they have done something wrong when they put it back together? I wasn't pulling anything, so I shouldn't have had a load on it as this thread suggests.

Comments?

Thanks.

 

My serious advice would be to take it back to the dealer and have them fix it properly this time.
Check the fluid level first (engine HOT, parked on level ground, with engine running cycle the trans from park thru all gears to 1 and back to park a couple times then leave it in park and leave motor running. check the level) because it might be too full and coming out the vent. Either way, call the dealer and let them know straight away.
This isn't intended as a flippant remark but a serious one. If you just bought the vehicle from a dealer then it isn't your problem if it's leaking trans fluid (or any other kind of fluid).
It doesn't matter whether it was pulling a load or not; you didn't do anything wrong so don't go looking for solutions yourself. You could make it harder to get them to fix it under warranty.
There are a number of things that they could have done wrong when they repaired the tranny but let them sort it out; all you need to do is make sure it doesn't leak so much it'll run dry before you get it back to them. If it is leaking THAT badly, don't drive it, just call them and tell them to come and get it with a towtruck.
I hope this helps, the more you mess with it and the longer time interval you leave it, the harder it'll be to prove it was their fault it was leaking!

 

Good advice. I bought it on Mon., so they should have no issue fixing the problem. had to put 1.5 qts. of trans. fluid in it to get it back to the XXXX area. I checked again didn't see all the fluid underneath. I can't imagine what happened. A few questions, so I sound more knowledgable than I really am about trans. issues. If it blew out like some suggests, and I didn't have a load on it, does that mean something is wrong with the trans.? I have owned a 94 before and this never happened. Is is possible that they did something wrong when they replaced the rear main seal. Would it leak this badly (spray everywhere) if the seal was bad. Hate to ask a stupid question, but is there a seal between the trans. and where it bolts to the back of the engine?

Ideas? Again, I just want to be able to defend against anything they tell me. Like what if it doesn't leak any on the way to the dealer and they can't find a leak? Again, sorry for all the dumb questions, but just want to be armed with the most knowledge.

Thanks again.

 

Well I got the car back to the dealer today and they identified the problem. Apparently, the guy made an error when he was replacing the rear main seal. His error was made when he put the torque converter back. He stated that the seal to the torque converter was the problem. He has ordered a new seal and installing it tomorrow.