Atf Gushing Out Of Auto Trans But From Where?

[suprabad]

:1zhelp: I just finished doing the top end of my 87 N/A supra and while on its maiden voyage to my girlfriends I got off the freeway and the auto trans didnt want to engage. I pulled into a gas station and realized my transmission was gushing ATF (sounded like a radiator leak). I got under the car and looked but couldnt see where it was coming from. Presumbaly the drivers side as it is really wet with ATF. I turned the motor off and ATF continued to spew under pressure untill the tranny was empty! Any ideas where this could be coming from?...thanx I'm stumped

 

[Jetfixr757]

Transmisson cooler line to the radiator, especially on the drivers side.
William 89T

 

[Boostedstr8six]

Kind of sounds like it burned a clutch and overheated the fluid. It expands quite a bit and will gurgle out of the breather.

 

[rakkasan]

Cclean it up & inspect it, see if you can give us some more info as to where the leak is coming from.

 

[tte]

When my auto went, it was leaking oil from the seal that lies behind the stock convertor.Oil would seak out where the tranny surface mounted onto the engine block.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[suprabad]

It's not coming out of the lines to the radiator. and its not wet above the top of the transmission. I got under it after I flatbeded ot home and still couldnt see where it was coming from. The only thing I can guess based on the mess the atf left behind is that it may be from the pan gasket but again, it was gushing out from the bottom of the tranny on the driver side and I'm not sure if there is enough pressure in the pan to make it gush like a radiator would. I'm still clueless. Thanks in advance for your :aigo:

 

[rakkasan]

It's not coming out of the lines to the radiator. and its not wet above the top of the transmission. I got under it after I flatbeded ot home and still couldnt see where it was coming from. The only thing I can guess based on the mess the atf left behind is that it may be from the pan gasket but again, it was gushing out from the bottom of the tranny on the driver side and I'm not sure if there is enough pressure in the pan to make it gush like a radiator would. I'm still clueless. Thanks in advance for your :aigo:

silly question, but is the dip stick tube seated correctly? Is its' seal torn? Is it bolted in place? IIRC, the lines to the radiator is on the passenger side, so that the only thing I can think of.

 

[suprabad]

MORE INFO:
I put 3 quarts of ATF in the tranny just now and started it up to see what would happen. To my surprise nothing leaked out...incredible when you consider fluid was gushing out seemingly under pressure last night. It even went into gear! Granted its still so low on ATF that the level still doesn't register on the dip stick. Oh to answer your question RAKASAN the return lines are dry on the outside and are not leaking and as far as the dipstick goes, it apears to be tapped into the tranny pan rather then bolted and about 6 inches after it makes its upward turn from the trans pan it unions with another tube that continues up to where you pull the dipstick out. I can't tell whether it's leaking out from there but last night when it was gushing out it appeared to be coming from the middle of the tranny. I sure appreciate anyones input. Thank-you.

 

[rakkasan]

MORE INFO:
I put 3 quarts of ATF in the tranny just now and started it up to see what would happen. To my surprise nothing leaked out...incredible when you consider fluid was gushing out seemingly under pressure last night. It even went into gear! Granted its still so low on ATF that the level still doesn't register on the dip stick. Oh to answer your question RAKASAN the return lines are dry on the outside and are not leaking and as far as the dipstick goes, it apears to be tapped into the tranny pan rather then bolted and about 6 inches after it makes its upward turn from the trans pan it unions with another tube that continues up to where you pull the dipstick out. I can't tell whether it's leaking out from there but last night when it was gushing out it appeared to be coming from the middle of the tranny. I sure appreciate anyones input. Thank-you.

Front / center, middle / center, rear / center? The only thing that I think that would make it 'gush' out like that would be a leak after the pump, which should make the fluid exit near the front of the tranny. Your best bet is to get input from GarretRowe, he seems to be the A340 expert, not to mention the one behind the Suprastick .

 

[suprabad]

:icon_conf :icon_conf UPDATE:
I drove the car after putting in the previously mentioned 3 quarts of ATF and it drives fine.....no leaks, like nothing ever happened. I've been around the block enough to know that this is not the end of the problem, but as of this moment you'd never know anything was ever wrong. So now I live in fear. If anyone has any insight on this problem I sure would love to hear from you. Also after looking at the trans (now full of ATF again) it appears that the only place it :icon_conf could have come from is where the 1st half of the filler tube links with the second half, unless it came out of the "vent' somebody mentioned. Where is this vent? Thanks to all who read and replied.

 

[Boostedstr8six]

What does the fluid look and smell like? If it's brown and burned smelling then it has been overheated (start looking for an r154). When autos overheat (just from what I've read) the fluid expands quite a bit and either pukes out of a breather on the top of the trans or the dipstick tube. I learned this reading about a similar problem with the A340F in a 2nd gen 4runner. Overheating kills autos very quickly.