Ranger with Very bad tranny leak when hot? Looking for help/advice.

[Tyler Hunn]

Hi, my name is Tyler and I'm new to The Ranger Station forums. Im going to try to be as detailed as possible so hopefully someone could maybe help me pinpoint the exact problem I am having.

I got the 1994 Ford Ranger XLT from a friend. It sat for 7 years in the same spot and When I first tried to get it running I noticed it has no fluids except oil and radiator fluid. I asked him if he drained it all and he said no.

I put transmission fluid in and topped it off, I put power steering fluid in, I put brake fluid in and everything seemed fine.

I drove it for two weeks and ended up replacing the brake lines and tightening the worm gear for the steering because it was loose.

I drove it for two months and one day I left my house and gave it a little gas and it popped out of gear and what seemes to be neutral for a second, then it popped back in gear. Keep in mind this is an automatic.

I checked my tranny fluid and it said it was fine. So I just assumed my transmission was going bad so I just figured I'd drive it until it was broke. Over the next 4 months I noticed it progressively get worse and to the point where I couldn't even drive it and then it finally "clicked" in my head that maybe I have a slow leak or something and maybe my tranny dipstick is wrong. I dunno but I put 2 quarts of fluid in the tranny and WOW its fixed I was so happy. No more slipping or popping out of gear. lol I know... Im slow or something right...haha

So now its been 6 months since that day and I"ve only had to add about a quart every 3 weeks until about a month ago I had to start adding it more often. I always went and added fluid the first time it would pop out of gear trying to take off from a stoplight. Oh, and it only does it in first gear. Once I'm in like 3rd or going 45mph it doesnt do it even with low fluid.

So I have had to add a quart every 2 days for the last two weeks up until yesterday. I recently drove 200 miles on the freeway doing 90 the whole way last week and i only added a half quart the whole trip. Well anyway I was driving and I noticed light white smoke coming from my truck so I pulled over and saw my tranny steaming slightly, and tranny fluid spraying out of the bottom of the bellhousing and on the exhaust causing it to smoke. I stopped quickly at the gas station and bought four quarts just so I could make it home. I also stopped at Auto Zone and bought Lucas Stop Slip and put that in when I got home.

I jacked it up looked under there and cant exactly tell where its leaking from but its coming out of the bellhousing. So I wanted to see if the Lucas worked so I started it up and WOW no leaking unless I rev the engine a little while in Nuetral. I had my girlfriend watch while I pulled backwords and forward and i smashed around the block real quick and it only a light couple drops when I rev it up in nuetral only.

So today I figured what the heck maybe it was just because it was hot outside so I took it to work and it was fine. I only drove 4 miles and I looked and it wasnt leaking except a couple drips here and there which I can deal with right now. Ok so Im happy. Then I went for a drive on the freeway to Home Depot and I checked it there and it wasnt leaking. about another 4 miles. I then drove back about 7 miles and when I was almost home I noticed smoke coming from my truck and pulled over and looked sure enough, It was severely spraying out of the bottom of the bell housing. I shut off the engine and it only continued for like 15 seconds then stopped.

I waited ten minutes and started it up again and it was just spraying everywhere, I had to buy another 4 quarts of cheap gas station fluid just to make it home. I figuered my truck is screwed up pretty bad but im unsure of exactly what it could be.

its been 4 hours now so I just went out to start it up and its not leaking at all. maybe a couple drips here and there but im good on putting a quart a week in. The drops give my driveway charachter. lol

What could be going wrong. oh also I googled it last night and one person suggested I check my radiator and sure enough it was empty. But my truck never overheated. I filled it up and checked again today to make sure and now its full.

I would like to point out that alot of lines like the power steering lines and the brake lines are corroded or rusty. I am gonna have to replace the power steering lines soon because it is leaking too.

The lucas sure slowed the leaking down quite a bit. but i cant afford to put a
12 dollar bottle in all the time. I have been using really cheap tranny fluid from the gas station.

Front pump seal, bushing, torque converter??????

Radiator clogged up, leaking tranny cooler lines?????

some filter clogged maybe?

It only leaks after i drive it and it seems to overheat. if i let it cool down a few hours it stops leaking. or it still does just not as bad. its been leaking for like 6 months.

these are just a few ideas i have on this but am unsure.

Thanks for reading this long post I will on here frequently so feel free to ask me any questions and i should respond within minutes or a couple hours at most.

1994 Ford Ranger XLT
166,000 miles
a4ld tranny

 

[Explorin94]

Your front seal is probably fine.....kind of. On these A4LD's the bellhousing's can warp with the heat of the transmission. What happens then is your front seal then comes out of alignment with the torque convertor, which the front seal is part of the bellhousing. Thus making the front seal leak like yours is doing when the truck get up to operating temperature. My 94 Explorer did the same thing and then I put another tranny cooler in line with the one that is already in front of the radiator. I'm not gonna tell you that it will help yours and the tranny coolers are a bit expensive but it might be worth a try.

 

[Tyler Hunn]

I was thinking something like that. I am wondering why though all of a sudden its overheating now. It never did before. It just started doing this recently. But it did, progressively, start losing tranny fluid a little bit more over the last 4 months. At first I only had to ad a quart every couple weeks. 3 weeks ago I was up to about a quart every 3 days. But it wasnt overheating and spraying fluid out. I did go on a 75 mile trip last week and was going almost 90 the whole way. But I didnt have to add any fluid on the way back. It doesnt leak much when its parked. I bought some black high temp rtv. Im not sure what im going to do with it yet.

 

[Tyler Hunn]

just popped off the trasmission pan to change filter and gasket. It has a lot of metal shavings sludge on the magnet and a few tiny metal pieces but nothing to be too concerned about. Im gonna try to pinpoint the leak or if its from the overflow tube .

 

[bigblue88]

Your probably not gonna tell till you take that trans out, but for safety i'd definetly do front seal, all the washers for bolts from bellhousing to trans, o-ring,and bushing if it looks like the seals worn. And if you got the money get the torque converter, but it sounds like with all the metal shavings and sludge you might have a burnt clutch?

 

[Tyler Hunn]

Ok I changed the trans filter and put all new mercon fluid in it. I hope i didnt mess it up from running cheap gas station transmission fluid. I drove around for 20 minutes and floored it a couple times to see iff i noticed anything wrong. I pulled over and kept checking with a flashlight to see if it was drippping. It was just a very little bit. like a couple drips here and there. It didnt slip or pop out of gear it was good. But the real test will be tomorrow when I take it for like 15 or 20 miles driving to check if its still overheating.

there wasnt too much sludge on the magnet. And from the look of the pan gasket it looks like its never been opened. it crumbled.

Im pretty sure i ran the truck for like two days low on radiator fluid. so I am gonna make sure that its full. What would cause the radiator fluid to go away. I dont think my head gasket is blown. the engine never overheats and theres no radiator fluid in my oil. Im stumped.

would a clutch going bad cause the tranny to overheat and boil out its fluid?