I pulled my Dad's 1950 Chevy 3100 truck from Hico to Dallas which was right at 100 miles. My 1997 F250 2 wheel drive auto pulled just fine couldnt even tell it was back there on the trailer. But when I got to my house my trany was leaking fluid right dead center and where the trany meets the engine. It stopped leaking when I turned off the truck then started when I cranked her up again. I followed the leak trail and it started about 100 yards down my drive way where it becomes a pretty steep incline there was nothing before that. I checked my fluid its nice and clean and red and dosent smell burnt and the fluid level looks normal???? After I unloaded and unhooked the trailer I moved the truck to get a closer look and it wasent leaking any more??? So I just drove it about 50 miles unloaded no leaks ran and drove fine and the fluid leve showed normal hot?? Any ideas??? Im supposed to go pick up a load of horses wendsday 1000 miles empty then 1000 miles back loaded about 8,000 9,000 lbs now this has me kind of worried... Ive had the truck for a couple of months now but this was the first load I pulled and it was a company truck before I got it that was never used to tow. She has 130,000 miles.


Thanks for any ideas...

 

Mine does after pulling a heavy load....or working it more than normal(80+ mph for a couple hrs).......my '99 did the same and my Dads '00 does it under the same conditions......I figured it was just normal so I really never investigated it

 

This is a very common failure on the E4OD. The original front seal leaks at high temperature. Over time, the temperature it leaks at drops lower and lower. The new seals take high temperatures much better. If you don't tow much, you probably can get away with this for quite a while. If you tow regularly, it's going to degrade fairly quickly.

The seal is only $6 and takes a few minutes to swap out. Unfortunately, you have to drop the tranny to reach the seal. It was about 6 hours for me to do it.

 

Well drove it around again today and nothing.... The trany dip stick still shows high I think there was to much fluid in there and it came out the overflow. Im going to instal a trany cooler just in case though... Every one I talked to said it is highly unlikely for the seal to reseal especialy with the volume that was coming out....

 

typicly they fail when the trans is overheated, odds are even though the fluid isnt burnt yet that something is slipping, most likly in your case, the converter.

 

My F350 does the same thing. If i drive around town, shes good. I towed a trailer the other day and got home and big puddle under her. It only does it when it gets hot. My trucks not my daily driver so I'm holding off on it right now
Also our 2000 E350 diesel does the same dang thing.

 

That's exactly what the temperature related softening does. The seal is dealing with pump pressure, so when it opens, a large volume will come out. It won't leak again until it gets hot again.

If you don't tow much, you may get away with several years before you have to replace the seal.