Olds1971

So testing out my rebuilt transmission for the second day the car has been sitting and is cold, I drive about a mile crusing and pull up noticing smoke I get out and the whole engine bay is covered in trans fluid mostly on drivers side. The trans cooler is dry and the cooling lines are also dry. What can cause this the bay is soaked, I do know the dipstick for this trans is those chrome ones with an o ring from autozone that fits but doesnt press all the way down, can that have came out enough to cause this? Or was this from the blow out port? Trans wasnt rebuilt by me

jaunty75

Check the line for the vacuum modulator. There should be a vacuum line running from the modulator on the transmission to a vacuum port on the intake manifold. If there is a hole in this line and a hole in the modulator itself, I could see transmission fluid getting onto the engine. Do you get any white smoke from the exhaust at all? Transmission fluid getting into the crankcase and getting burned produces white smoke.

Olds1971

Modulator is new and so is the vaccum line no holes found, this happened so fast in not even a mile and I almost bet every quart of fluids sitting on my motor

jaunty75

All I can think of, then, is an overfilled transmission. The fluid came out the top of the filler neck. As you note, the transmission dipstick does not make an air-tight seal.

I don't know what a "blow out port" is. What blows out?

Olds1971

Its on top of the trans, its so if its under to much pressure fluid comes from it instead of messing up the transmission

jaunty75

Well, did you check the blowout port? Is it wet around it? Transmission fluid can come from only so many places. If you've ruled out the cooler lines, the vacuum modulator line, and the dipstick tube, what's left?

If the blowout port IS the source, then you've got an internal problem with your transmission, correct? Since it was just rebuilt, this does seem like a possibility. Can you talk to the rebuilder?

1970-W30

The "blowout port" is commonly known as the transmission vent.

oldcutlass

There are not a lot of places on the drivers side for the fluid to come out. As mentioned above, the vent tube on top, and normally with a modulator the fluid gets sucked into the engine and materials itself as smoke out the exhaust. It could be the governor plate on the passenger side. I'm wondering if it's the wrong dipstick and if its not pushed in all the way, maybe your trans is overfilled.

Transman

You say the engine bay is covered in oil. That brings up some questions. Is there ATF on top of the motor? Is there any splashed up on the under side of the hood? Was the dipstick popped loose from the tube?


Here's my thoughts, for ATF to be all over the drivers side, you have a pressure leak. That rules out a dipstick o-ring, but it doesn't rule out the trans venting oil out the top of the dipstick tube, which can happen if the breather vent is plugged. If there isn't any ATF on top of the motor, you can rule out a plugged vent. There is a mainline pressure tap on the drivers side of the trans, just above the linkage, it is a 1/8 pipe plug. If it is loose it can spray oil all down the drivers side underneath the car. Warning, if the pressure tap is loose, don't go crazy tightening it because it is possible to break the case from over tightening the plug.


Transman
Transmission rebuilder since 1981

Olds1971

The ATF covers all of the drivers side including motor, top of the air cleaner, underneath sise of hood, even the driver side battery is covered, every single inch has fluid, the driver side tire on the inside is even soaked, the dipstick was just for a th350 im guessing chevy, its in the hole as far as it can go but out bout a quarter inch, im guessing I overfilled it not considering the tube, however I have been driving a couple days with that amount of fluid and hasnt done it... Pretty confused posting pictures and troubleshooting tomorrow with a Olds dipstick and correct amount of fluid, the adding a gauge for temp to see what it runs

Olds1971

Just wanted to let everyone know I preasure tested the system and there was a tiny hole in the cooling line and under preasure was insane!!!! It sprayed right to the drivers side. Fixed and back driving thanks everyone for the info... As always use the Keep It Simple Stupid method

coppercutlass

I have had lines puke out on me before usually right at the trans or cooler. One one I blew the threads out lol. I learned not to over tighten lines the hard way

oldcutlass

Glad you found it.