Hank F.
New Member
I recently took my 93 ATX to Glacier Park for a family thing. Of course, as soon as we got there it went from 75 to 105 in temp. While cruising into a cell-free zone near East Glacier, our car started smoking. Well, it turned out to be leaking trans. fluid, so we shut it down, towed it to Whitefish, rented a car and went on with vacation. I came back, and much to my surprise, no fluid had leaked in the 5 days we were gone. I had filled it before leaving to see if it would leave me a trail to the leak. I decided to see if I could duplicate the circumstances with my family following in Toyota's latest rent a wreck. Well, the damn thing wouldn't leak anymore! So, we just kept driving. Near the Montana-Idaho border is Lookout Pass, a 5000 foot summit. As the temp climbed, it seemed my RPM's were, too. When I pulled into the rest area, sure enough, leak back. We waited until dark, refilled the trans (only 1+ pints) and with the cooler air, drove to my sister's in Spokane. I elected to do nothing, as my sister has no real tools, and I have only a small kit that I carry in the car. I did check all fittings, the filler tube and cooling lines for obvious problems. Nothing. The leak seems to be coming from between the two bottom torque converter bolts, but that's just where it comes out- at least that's my guess. Anyway, since a $500 tow bill is not in my budget, I topped everything off, waited until the cool at 10p.m., and headed for Portland. It made the journey with no leaking, slipping, or overheating. I don't get it- cars do not fix themselves. Or, am I doomed to only be able to drive it at 75 degrees or cooler? I removed the cooler and lines when I got home, made sure they were operating and open, changed the fluid and filter, and have only driven it when it is cool, or for short jaunts, and it hasn't leaked a drop. I give up- I'm willing to entertain an exorcism, but not a $2500 rebuild. This car had a reman trans installed 44k miles ago, by the local Ford store, and in 12k miles I have flushed the tranny twice. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.
