New here with a problem

[PTBishop]

ok so heres my story...i bought my explorer in april, a stock 91 xlt with what im assuming is 145K miles, considering the odometer doenst have a 1...anyways it started with an over heating problem, and an exhaust leak, which is not a problem....the overheating problem got bad when the radiator exploded, haha, so i put a new radiator and thermostat in it, found the over heating problem to be the clutch fan, so anyways spent some money got it fixed....my next problem, the thing needed ball joints, i did all four and outter tie rod ends last night. took it into work today, did an allignment and put some 31x10.5R15 BFGoodrich on it, well it looks great and all, but as i was driving to my moms today it started smoking really bad, white smoke at that, i thought "OMG my head gasket is gone" but it wansnt that, got under neath and found a big puddle of tranny fluid...coming from in front of the tranny where it meets to the engine....

now, thank you for reading my story, here is my question...

Have any of you heard of a front seal just going out and spewing tranny fluid?

i have never heard of this and i was wondering why it has to do this....i just put about $600 in the last week, and now this happens, this is a major problem because now i have to pull the tranny to get to the seal...

Did i just buy a lemon or what?

oh yeah, i paid $2700 for it, and have put about about 300 in actual repairs in it. the powersteering pump has been replaced, the tranny fluid was new before it all spewed out, the starter was replaced. and the interior is perfect, i thought it was a good deal.....

any help?

anyone want to buy an explorer?

 

[Brian_B]

Welcome to the forums. The front seals go out on the A4LD automatic all the time. Its quite common. It has to be pulled to be fixed. Once its out and you can inspect the bushing, then you will know more. Sometimes the bushing is shot as well. Glacier911 on this forum had a rebuild diary for them and I believe that information is in there.

 

[BeauJ]

You didn't actually buy a lemon but the A4LD is probably the worst thing ever made besides the explosive pinto. I replaced mine in my old explorer 3 times before I sold it

 

[PTBishop]

but for it to be fine for 5000 miles after i bought it, then all of a sudden start leaking really bad....isn't this a little strange?

 

[Brian_B]

They go out. I do not know that its strange. You do realize when you overheated the radiator and blew it up, you likely over heated the trans as well. Heat kills a transmission. Then you put larger tires on it. More work for an overburdened (underdesigned) transmission again.


It may have been leaking some for a long time and just now got bad enough to notice with the overheating and bigger tires. When mine went out once, I had a few drips until the smoke appeared going down an interstate one day. That was that, time to pull it.

 

[PTBishop]

ok, what about this, i looked at it today, put some tranny fluid in it, and started it while my dad looked for leaks, and the tranny wasnt leaking, but fuel started leaking....i did not smell fuel when i parked it last night...

 

[Brian_B]

Hmm....sounds like an unrelated problem to me. Not sure what to look for there. Probably a fuel line near the engine. Or maybe right at the fuel presure regulator (I have seen that one). I would be worried about a gas leak near the engine or exhaust, so I would try to find and fix that one pretty fast. Could just be a loose clamp or something.

When my front seal went out the last time (my old ranger), it was fine cold. After I drove about 10-15 minutes it started spraying fluid. Transmission fluid expands and gets thinner as it gets hot. My front bushing was worn as well. Yours is a 91 w/145k, so its been around a long time by now. I don't know what else to tell you at this point.

 

[PTBishop]

yeah it looks like the fuel pressure regulator, im having it towed to work, because i actually have tools there and all, thanks for all the help by the way

 

[Brian_B]

Hopefully, its just little stuff that needs maintenance. If you had caught the fan clutch in time thats a cheap repair. The front seal will cost a bit if you pay someone to do it, but its cheap if you can do the labor. I am thinking you just have a lot of general maintenance to catch up on. Older vehicles get neglected by the owners sometimes as far as little stuff.

 

[PTBishop]

the person who had it before me did something with the tranny, the fluid was new when i bought it, still red, smelt like it was just put in

plus all the others fluids were ok, it has had the PS pump replaced, starter, radiator before i bought it, and other various things....it is just a problem child, and i should just sell it, it would have been nice if all of this had happened before i put the new ball joints, tie rod ends and tires on