Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting ATX spraying fluid?!

hey all..
I've got a 98.5 SE Sport... ATX.
I had the tranny rebuilt about a year ago, and i recently took it on a road trip. After cruising about about 60mph for just over an hour, i slowed down for construction and could smell tranny fluid. as i was moving my car into a parking lot to check it out it shifted from first to second, and HARD. there was a pause, then a bang and the whole car jerked forward.
Now this never happens while driving in town, stop and go traffic is fine, but highway driving it seems to do it after some time at driving 55mph+. after checking under the hood i noticed there was tranny fluid under the battery holder and also covering the top of the tranny. i couldn't see where it was coming from as i'd have to be looking under the hood while driving pretty quick.
Any ideas? If i let the car sit for 15 minutes to half an hour and cool down it's fine again for another hour or so, but this makes highway driving an issue...
Any help would really be appreciated,
Thanks!

As I have stated before, I am not much of a transaxle guy, but I could venture to guess:


You fluid is probably coming from the vent tube on the tranny, caused by the tranny being in high pressure (limp-home) mode. Coincidently, high pressure causes the "bang-shift" feeling as well.

It could also be a problem with your VSS (vehicle speed sensor) or TSS (Turbine sensor). I am not saying it could be either.. I am saying it could be one of them, I just don't ever remember which one it is that affects the car in this way.

Someone else will chime in, shortly, though. Is your O/D light flashing at all? If so, have your car read for codes, as the transmission will store codes, too.

Ray

thanks alot for the tips, i didn't know that the tranny stores codes... i've since reset the computer though, having changed my O2 sensor. The first time this happened my O/D off light was flashing.. but the last couple of trips i've taken it hasn't set off the blinking light. I think because i knew there was a problem so i was stopping frequently to give the transaxle a break. I'll get it scanned at my earlier convenience, hopefully that will give me an idea, but i think resetting the computer after changing my O2 would have cleared those codes.

Yes, check your vent tube on top of the valve body cover. It could have been pinched and busted under the pressure. This would spew ATF all over the front side of the tranny.

If these conditions happen everytime you drive on the highway, then I would have to guess that you are having issues with the cooler flow getting blocked off. It is a fairly common problem with CD4E's, but should have been corrected during the rebuild.

If you find that fluid is also coming from the dipstick tube, then I would double check the fluid level. Maybe you took the car to a place to get the oil changed and the erronously topped off the ATF, when they shouldn't have. If the level is ok, then you probably have an issue with the filter getting clogged or the pump spikeing.

Just a few thoughts as to what could be going on.

The pump pressure is not a factor. If the vent hose is pinched (probably under the battery) or mistakenly plugged as a rouge vacuum line, the hot fluid can not move into the side cover area via the thermo-plastic valve (a better idea). Clear the vent line and move the open end up near the top of the batter4y and you will be fine.

Clean up all of the fluid to prevent and engine fire and top her off.

Note that the cold fill mark is the â�?��?hiâ�?� mark and the hot fill is the â�?��?lowâ�?��?� dipstick mark due to the action of the valve.

jeff

Learn something every day.

High pressure (limp) mode wouldn't spray any fluid. because it would still be able to

Originally posted by mercman:

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move into the side cover area via the thermo-plastic valve

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????


Ray