Please Help , My Mounty Is Broke !

[badgett]

Last night I was coming home from a 45 mile trip and my awd mountaineer started dumping fluid from underneath and the exhaust pipes were burning it making a cloud of smoke, It was transmission fluid. Looks like maybe the t-case area. I have not looked at it today but the whole undercarriage is soaked in tranny fluid. It still runs fine and goes through the gears fine. It is just pouring loads of tranny fluid out of it. The engine is totally clean so it makes me think the problem is back near thr transer case. Please help , I need my Mounty back on the road. Any ideas would be great.

 

[dogfriend]

I think they normally dump from a front seal failure. The other areas would probably be from one of the servos on the side of the trans or if its overheating, the vent tube on top.

What's the fluid on the dipstick like? Nice and pink, or brown and burnt?

Do you have a V8 or V6 in the Mounty?

 

[badgett]

My tranny doesn't have a dipstick. It is pouring out just like you took a quart of tranny fluid and turned it upside down. REALLY bad leak. You may be right. I could be forcing it out from overheating. The fluid that was running out smelled burnt and was black.

 

[dogfriend]

Are you getting any flashing OD light? (i.e. Is there a code set?)

Yep, if you're getting black fluid, its overheating. Don't run it for long without replacing the fluid. You will probably have to drop the trans.

I would get a factory manual (CD or ISO image) if you don't already have one. You can follow the troubleshooting guide to narrow down the problem.

 

[badgett]

No code and no flashing lights. So do you think it is the tranny and not the AWD t-case ?

 

[dogfriend]

Its most likely the trans. If you think it could be the t-case, I would drain the fluid from it and see what it looks like. I think it only holds about a little bit over a quart (2.7 pints or 1.25 liters).

 

[badgett]

OK , I was just hoping it wasn't the tranny. I will take a good look at it in the daylight when I get home from work today. Maybe if I could pinpoint the source of the leak you guys could help me even more. Thanks for taking the time to give me some advice. I will respond with my findings.