Transmission fluid leaking from front of engine oil pan

[twinturbostang]

Say what?!?! Yeah, I can't figure it out and it's driving me crazy! First off, no it's not the tranny cooler fluid lines that run next to the engine. I pulled those away from the engine, and it very clearly is leaking from the front of the oil pan, just on the passenger side. Ok, so it seems like I need to replace the oil pan gasket, and I'm going to pull the pan to see what it looks like. But how the hell is transmission fluid coming from the oil pan?!?!? I pulled the dip stick, and it definitely still looks like oil in there. Yet what's dripping from the front of the engine is VERY red, and smells just like the tranny fluid.

The only thing I could think of is perhaps the radiator developed an internal leak and was causing tranny fluid and antifreeze to mix. But then that would also mean that the front cover seal would also have to be blown and somehow dripping this down through and into the front of the pan. A lot of events would have to happen in order for this to explain what's going on. But just to check, I drained the coolant. And while it looks like sweet tea or Coke (and definitely needs to be replaced), it does not smell like tranny fluid at all. It smells just like antifreeze. So I'm guessing the radiator was actually filled with some of that long life coolant that has red dye in it. I really hate that, as green fluid is easy to figure out!

Any ideas what is going on??? Oh, this is a 2000 Eddie Bauer Expedition w/ the 5.4L V8. 130k on the ticker.

Thanks,
Brian

P.S. I'm going to go take some pictures of where the leak is coming from.

 

[twinturbostang]

Here's some pictures. Seems I can't upload any videos.

 

[twinturbostang]

Ok, hosting it on my site...

www.twinturbostang.com/misc/Expedition_leak.wmv

That pretty much explains it all! Sorry about the stupid water mark in the middle of the video.

 

[firefighter407]

I would say you have a pin hole on the tranny cooler line. mine has a leak in the same spot. In the picture where the two lines are rusted in the same spot ( about where u see the fluid spraying on he oil pan) mine had a clamp securing the lines.

to repair it I just cut that section out, put a small flare on the tubing and replace it with a piece of fuel line and some clamps

 

[Racenut]

Definatly would say that you have a pin hole in the high pressure line that is spraying it on to the oil pan.

 

[mhowington]

Is there a way to repair a pinhole in a transmission cooler line rather than replace the line? It seems like you could splice a high pressure/temp line with the correct fitting or maybe even solder/patch the hole. Has anyone tried this? I twisted the lower line on my 97 trying to get the bloody line disconnected to replace the radiator- I REALLY dont want to replace the line- its far too much for what it is.

 

[abnranger67]

Hey all, hope not hijacking this thread, but today I literally watched all the transmission fluid leak out of my 2000 expy. I was sitting in traffic and this guy walked up to me and told me that I was leaking fluid. I looked under the truck and tranny fluid was gushing out. I had it towed from NY to NJ till I can talk to my mechanic tomorrow. Any idea what to expect in terms of damage and cost? I am not looking forward to a car note, plus I love this truck.