brakes fine- now tranny whine?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 5:47 PM -0500 3/10/03, Kneale Brownson wrote:

>My tranny got a bit louder when all the fluid ran past a seal that had
>failed.  Mechanic said nothing came out when they pulled the drain
>plug.   Have you checked the fluid level?

Well, -something's- bleeding out.  There's oil all over the back
1/3rd of the driver's side cat.  Transmission is coated from the back
to about even with(if I'm matching up the diagram on page 35-10-1
correctly to what I see underneath the car) where the 5th gear is
located(front to back.)

I think that's too far back to be a rack leak; no oil along the
entire side of the tranny, from the engine compartment rack and area
underneath it looks OK, and the hydraulic fluid reservoir is right
exactly where it has been for months- smack between min+max.  The
fluid also doesn't smell the same.  Slightly similar, but not the
same.  Wrong color, too- the hydraulic fluid(DTE-13M) is completely
clear, maybe a slight amber tint.  This stuff is grey in color(not a
reassuring sign.)

So, what do I do?  Loosen up the fill valve, then drain the tranny
and see how much comes out?  What's the second drain plug(nicely
inaccessible without the exhaust removed) for?  Is it necessary to
undo that plug as well as the drain up front to get everything out?

Brett
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