one problem after another.HELLLLLLLLP!!

[trbojo]

i'm beginning to think i own a F.O.R.D. !! so i finish up my timing chain yesterday and take the car out for a few hours. it's running great with the new lifters, chain and gears and some tweaking of the chip. so i get home tonight and decide to go look for some trouble. first i find a late 90's trans am. i pull about 6 cars on him off the line, and kept going. it wasn't even close. then i find a 2000ish silver cobra. we go. i pull about 3 cars on him and kept it that far until i let out around 110. then i look in my rear view and see smoke POURING out the back. the first thing i think is, oh ****, headgasket! i pull off into a parking lot, pop the hood and jump out with my fire extinguisher because there's smoke everywhere. luckily, nothing went up. i let it sit for a minute, then take a look underneath. there's tranny fluid EVERYWHERE. there is no way i can see where it's coming from because the undercarriage is soaked. i must have lost at least 3 quarts. is there any common area where the cooler lines could rub through? this is about the only thing i could think of that would make me lose that much fluid that fast. got it towed home and sitting in the garage for right now. this car is really starting to piss me off!

 

[John Larkin]

Apparently the smoke was from it being all over the exhaust, no surprise there. As far as common rub through points, not likely since the stock lines are steel. I'd be more suspicious that the pan is loose or the gasket slipped. Maybe the drain plug came out. Hard to say at this point; what level is showing on the stick, anything? Get a couple bottles of Greased Lightning and clean the undercarriage, go from there. Use rubber gloves and safety goggles, that stuff will eat skin as well as grease.

 

[scottyb]

Mine did exactly as you describe last year. It was the tranny pump. Something inside broke and the pump pushed thru the front seal, pumped fluid out on the crossover, smokapaloooza!

I removed the tranny expecting to just replace a blown front seal and noticed the pump had pushed thru. Took it to the tranny shop and had the pump replaced for ~$450. The guy claimed to have used a new HD unit, but the WOT 1-2 shift went to **** after all was done. I couldn't get anywhere with him for obvious reasons, so I put in the Xtreme kit and haven't looked back. Works like a champ.

 

[scottyb]

Of course, I'd do as John suggested and pinpoint the leak location before dropping anything.

 

[trbojo]

well i got under and wiped up some of the mess, and of course it's nothing easy like a broke or loose line. it blew the friggin convertor seal out. i don't know if it pushed the bushing or not. i'll have to wait until i pull it. oh well, here goes another month down!