Tranny help please?

[Mach1Mike]

I have a 1996 Explorer XLT. 4x4. basically stock right now. A little over 100k. Automatic tranny. V6 engine.

Ok, a couple weeks ago, I was driving and for some reason I lost all my tranny fluid. The tranny started slipping, and I pulled over. badly burnt fluid was all over the underside of my explorer. I could not tell where the fluid was comming out...so I added 3 quarts, and looked underneeth. Could not see any fluid leaking...so I put it in gear....still no noticable leak. So I started moving thinking that maybe I had been leaking fluid for sometime and had not noticed. ( A friend was following me) Within 2 miles, I had dumped all the fluid, and was back at a stand still. I was dumping fluid fast enough, that it sprayed from under my explorer all over the front of buddys car. I finally got the truck up on ramps today, adn went under to take a good luck.

The bell housing looks pretty clean. I cant tell for sure, because the whole underside is pretty wet from fluid. It looks like maybe it is leaking or dumping from somewhere on the topside of the tranny. Tranny lines seem to be clean going to and from the cooler. does not look to be the problem there.

There is a metal tube that is comming strait down along the driverside of the tranny. It is just an open tube like some kind of overflow tube. I can follow it up and it seems to go above the bellhousing and then maybe come back down...and I cant see where it goes on the other side. Any idea as to what this would be? Is that tube supposed to just be down and connected to nothing, or am I missing something there.

Any other suggestions that I can check out.

 

[section525]

Here is a pic of my 4R70W. Yours may be similar.

Are these the tubes you're talking about? I know the one that goes very high up the tranny has a cap in it. I'm assuming it's some sort of over-flow or breather tube.

Maybe someone else can point out what the different hoses/tubes are and go?

 

[Mach1Mike]

maybe?

The tube that looks like it is going down the side...and makes the odd u-turn and travels along the top of the tranny. That may be the one I am asking about. on mine, it just comes down, and ends...no cap. no nothing. Any idea what that is?

 

[Opera House]

The overflow tube

goes from the rear top of the transmission, up to the top two mounting bolts of the bellhousing and then loops back down again. The other tube is to the vacuum modulator. There are two possible sources of the leak. Most probable is the front seal to the torque converter. The other unlikely cause is a crack in the torque converter. If you don't mind pulling the transmission out, this is not a hard repair to do. This transmission is basically an A4LD with a couple of minor mods. This seal can be replaced without without having to align the pump. Join us who are rebuilding transmissions on "Anyone rebuild an A4LD" for more details

 

[asp84]

Like Opera House said....... It's most likely the Front Seal. I had this happen to me in my explorer too. I was driving down I-5 in Red Bluff, California, and all of a sudden I noticed red ATF and smoke coming from the back of my explorer, coating all the cars behind me in ATF. Turned out to be a seal blowout.

If you are able to pull out the tranny yourself, it won't be too expensive. Good Luck!!

Al