Fluid leaks up front

[clemsgn]

Just tryin to get an idea on what the most common source for a pretty good leak around the front of the trans, would be ? It doesn't leak much under normal daily driving, but it was dripping after a run at the track. I've looked at it while someone else power braked it up on a jack & stands, but cant tell where it originates ? Trans is clean and the fluid is so transparent, that it's hard to see. It doesn't seem like it's wet around the pump, pump bolts or front seal. Converter seems to be dry also. I thought it was the pan gasket, so I tightened the bolts again which seemed to help until I got back to the track. The first time at the track this year on my second pass, they pulled me off the line cause it was dripping. It seems like the minute it's under a heavy load, it starts leaking. I'm going to get it leaking again by doing a burnout in front of the house and immediately jacking it up to try and figure it out. Any other comments would be helpful. Bruce ? Chris ?

Thanks again,

 

[A. G. Olphart]

Just tryin to get an idea on what the most common source for a pretty good leak around the front of the trans, would be ? It seems like the minute it's under a heavy load, it starts leaking.

Thanks again,

Pan gasket should leak the same all the time, and not be load dependent. Is the case breather is open?

Since you've eliminated the front seal, how about the TV cable seal?
Heavy load = lots of throttle = pull on TV cable, which might stress the seal.

Just guessing, as you've had no bites.

 

[Dabigguy]

Just an off the wall comment......if you are having a hard time tracking any type of leak, try dusting the area with baby powder. The powder will show up wet.

 

[bison]

Chances are its coming from the front seal area even though it doesnt seem like it. Use the baby powder to verify its not. Maybe the oil return hole is undersized or is plugged a little or maybe the front bushing is walking toward the front seal forcing the oil out the front seal. This happened to a friend of mine last year at the drag strip. The front bushing needs to be installed correctly or there is a high probability it will walk forward and force oil out of the front seal. You could put it on jackstands and just disconnect the TV and start it and have someone pull the TV to max and check for leaks. If it occurs at high pressures this should help find it. Be sure to reset the TV before rriving again.

 

[Pronto]

Just an off the wall comment......if you are having a hard time tracking any type of leak, try dusting the area with baby powder. The powder will show up wet.

Or maybe try some of that oil dye that shows up under a UV light.

 

[cutlasskid]

could be coming from vent tube on top of trans

 

[chris718]

leaks points up front can be caused by loose pump to case bolts,a hard o ring seal around the circumference of the pump body,a damaged o ring around the circumference of the pump body,a torn or damaged front seal,a pump bushing that has rotated out of its bore and damaged the front seal,an overfull trans peeing out the vent tube,leaky or improperly torqued pan gasket,a leaky tv cable boot,a leaky servo o ring seal,casting porosity.

 

[clemsgn]

Thanks everyone for the comments/ideas ! As soon as I get some time (painting the house now) I will check again to try and find the origin of this problem. The pump bushing sounds interesting....maybe that's it. It could be the o-ring around the circumference as I had the pump out last year to change to a lock up converter, but I didn't change it cause it looked good. I don't know if the oil return hole was ever enlarged B-4 I bought the car, but would that cause a leak ? It may be a while B-4 I get to it, but I'll post my findings at that point.
Thanks again for all the help !!

 

[chris718]

good luck

 

[clemsgn]

Think I found it !

Thanks to "Dabigguy" for his suggestion to dust it with baby powder, cause I may not have found it. I did a burnout in my driveway and saw fluid around the front passenger side of the pan gasket. It looked like it was seeping through the gasket, but I didn't think that was it. I was happy to see that the front pump/converter area was dry ! I waited for help (thanks DCVING) and did another burnout (my neighbors must have thought it was 9/11 again !!) this time we jacked the car up quick and found the fluid around the passenger rear of the pan. I thought that it had to be running from somewhere else cause we jacked it up. Then I finally saw a trail through the powder coming from above and it looked like it could be from the vent tube. We then did another burnout with a clear tube connected to the vent feeding into a bottle, to confirm,and it was positive. I wondered why there's enough pressure in the trans to force it out of the vent? It's definately not overfull as it stays below the full line after long trips. Then it hit me.....the dipstick tube is the type with a lever to "lock" it into place so it seals up. I checked out the stock one in my other car and they have a couple of cut-outs in the seal to allow pressure to release if needed. The final burnout with dipstick loose, showed no fluid in the tube or anywhere around the pan, so I think it's finally over. I just hope it doesn't leak at the track next time like it has in the past. If anyone else has strange leaks, dont rule out your dipstick !
Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions and to Chris K. for the complete rundown of possible problem areas