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Strange transmission behaviour

Leppy Anar

New Member
Joined
May 10, 2019
Messages
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City, State
Bothell WA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1994 Ford Explorer XLT
Hi,
Please help to understand what is going in.I was driving today from work home my 94 explorer 4wd.it was quite hot.when approached home i saw frint driver side rotor is exremely hot and was almost red because o temperature.my transmission fuind was puring bad and eventually all fluid gone to my driveway.after letting it cool i lifted front of vehicle an turned wheel it was turning normally.(still syrange why rotor was so hot) also filled up transmission fluid again no leak this time and transmission seems to be ok.altough driving for mile of two i noticed minor leak again..
Can anybody tell me what is going in?
Transmission overheat? Reasin? i was not towing anythin.why rotor is overheating?
 



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Your brake rotor can overheat if your brake caliper is not releasing when you let off the brake pedal, this causes drag, and the then the drag causes heat. If the caliper is dragging bad enough it would be just like pulling a trailer, which in turn puts extra load on the drive train, especially the transmission.
 






Hi,
Please help to understand what is going in.I was driving today from work home my 94 explorer 4wd.it was quite hot.when approached home i saw frint driver side rotor is exremely hot and was almost red because o temperature.my transmission fuind was puring bad and eventually all fluid gone to my driveway.after letting it cool i lifted front of vehicle an turned wheel it was turning normally.(still syrange why rotor was so hot) also filled up transmission fluid again no leak this time and transmission seems to be ok.altough driving for mile of two i noticed minor leak again..
Can anybody tell me what is going in?
Transmission overheat? Reasin? i was not towing anythin.why rotor is overheating?
Welcome to the forum.

Where was the transmission fluid coming from when it was leaking in the driveway? Where is it leaking from now? Leaks don’t just go away on their own. You need to find the leak so we can figure out what is happening. Driving low on transmission fluid will cause the tranny to slip, damaging the friction bands.

While a dragging rotor can cause a rotor to overheat, if it was ‘almost red’ it is now warped and should be replaced. Also, if it was dragging that bad, I’m sure you would have felt it in the steering (pulling to one side), as well as the truck feeling ‘heavy’, especially at acceleration. Does the rotor continue to overheat?
 






The extra load on the drivetrain caused the front seal on the transmission to blow out. Check the coolant level in the radiator, replace the defective brake parts, and refill the transmission.
 






Hi .yes it was pulling to right while pressing break pedal.i refilled transmission it does not leak now and car drives well.it was very strange since when i jacked the zar frint lef wheel can be turned easily..by the way i had mechanic to change front breaks and frint break hoses..is it possible that break in front whell was holding it somehow and now released?
 












It happened same day after mechanic worked on my front breaks.i had no transmission fluid blow before.i suspect left front break was not released thus causing drag.and now it somehow released.rotor does not overheat anymore.transmission works great
 






If the fluid was coming out of the bellhousing, your transmission might have "burped" out some fluid from the input shaft seal. It can happen when the transmission gets really hot, especially when at low speeds where the fan cannot cool the aux cooler or the radiator enough to combat the heat build up. My brother had the same problem in his first gen. After it cooled down and he refilled the transmission it ran just fine without leaks.
 






It happened same day after mechanic worked on my front breaks.i had no transmission fluid blow before.i suspect left front break was not released thus causing drag.and now it somehow released.rotor does not overheat anymore.transmission works great

That's a dragging caliper, the piston is not releasing fully each time the brake pedal is released. You need to stop driving it until you replace both front calipers. That dragging issue is normally from a vehicle not being driven for a long period of time. If one caliper drags badly like that, the opposing caliper is equally suspect to do it too.

Rebuilt calipers are not expensive at all. If you like the shop that did the work, go back and have them also do the front calipers. It's not really possible for them to have discovered the caliper issue while doing brake work, that develops while driving for quite a while. Right now it may happen every time you drive the truck, and it can affect the transmission as you now know. It can also start a fire, or result in no brakes if the piston seals fail and leak all brake fluid out. So be careful and get the calipers changed now, if the hoses were changed they will be fine, but be sure the copper line washers are replaced at the calipers too. Those are not smart to reuse.

The transmission might be perfectly fine after the calipers are replaced, that overheating doesn't always hurt the trans.
 






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