2000 Explorer trany problem - diagnosis?

[springer275]

I have a 2000 Explorer XLT V8 AWD 162K miles and I had been tossing around modifying it for light offroad for fun since it is not worth much, but it gave me a bad symptoms this weekend which is making me rethink my plans.

Driving on the highway for about 90 minutes, not hauling anything, just the wife and kids, and the transmission started blowing oil out the overflow. I am not noticing any knocks or trouble shifting, just that the whole back half the explorer undercarriage is coated with trany fluid as well as the back hatch. The fluid levels are down about half. Last trany oil change was about 45 to 50K miles ago.

Anyone have any suggestion of what the problem could be with the transmission? Or is it a lost cause? I did notice the gas mileage has been going down, but I figured it was age.

 

[springer275]

Update

Well, it ended up being a blown torque converter, not the trany.

Just an FYI to those of you with high miles on your explorer, if you notice the vehicle jumping 200 or 300 rpm to maintain the same speed, it is not the trany failing, it is the converter. You will also notice oil spraying out of the transmission overflow. You can still have damage to the Trany if you let this go or wait a while to get it fixed because it is still overheating the transmission. I waited 2 days, but the shop believes I will be ok.

The converter replacement is around $800 with labor, still bad, but not as bad as a trany which is $1800 (I have the AWD). I guess this is a big scam that some shops run. They will just automatically replace the transmission without even checking to see if it is just the converter and will lie to the owner.