Thread: Tranny Leak.. caused a big white smoke cloud

i was driving home right now & while i was getting on the freeway i tried to speed up, car dropped a gear or so, revs went to about 4.5k -5k &all of a sudden i heard a small, kinda like a whistle sound (not the s/c) & then when i was about to move into a lane & looked in my side view mirror & i saw i big huge cloud coming from my car.. i mean a HUGE F´n cloud, kinda felt like a fog machine for a sec haha even the smoke came into the car & i smelld oil.. freakin car broke my heart :/ .. So i got to the closest gas station checked under the car to see if something was dripping but nothing.. check under the hood, checked engine oil, correct level, check tranny level & once i took out the dipstick i saw on the dip stick little bubbles which was weird, i checkd around the tranny from the top & there it was.. a big leak on top of my tranny right under the crossover from the headers :/ well at least the tranny oil was there & figure it came from there since when we installed the headers my friend told me something i never saw... that i was missing a bolt from the tranny.. i didnt take it seriously since ive had the car for about 14 months already & thankfully nothing had happened :/
ever since i installed the headers a bunch a probs started popping up
misfires (FIXED), crappy ass mpg, abs sensor wires broke off, idle goes up & down a bit, &Now..............
THIS !!
!

my tranny will slip at times.. & once i checked the level oil after we installed the headers & when we removed the tranny dipstick a bunch of oil came out, i mean a lot, i went an bought a Qt. poured it in.. & it marked correct so i left it like that.. then i read here on the forum that sometimes the dipstick will tell you that you have the correct tranny oil level but in reality its not right :/ so afters some days my friend told me the same thing happend to him (READING CORRECT LEVEL BUT WASNT REALLY CORRECT) i checked it again then poured in another Qt. the tranny didnt slip as much from then so i was happy .. BUT NOW THIS HAPPENED .. its my Daily Driver & i dont wanna ride it like that, obviously...

also another thing this happend approx. about 25-30 miles from home & i even raced a ricer on the way to drop off a friend at her house, i still wiped him all over the freeway, dropped her off & i still got home with no probs (meaning my tran or motor didnt go boom).. thats the only good part

what should i do?
& I imagine for no freakin reason to drive my car for now..

Thanks people..

when we took out the dipstick on the tranny & the atf spilled out ( alot of it did) i went to auto zone & bought a Qt of dextron VI, then when i when i checked it again after hearing about the dipstick shieet & went to a nearby mobil gas station & bought a Qt of Dextron.. but now it was DEXTRON III..

just putting in some more specific info on that.. if it helps with a solution :/

Fluid on top of the trans w/o a line peeing on it likely means you bult up a lot of pressure and blew fluid out the breather on top of the trans. I'd swing it by a trans shop for a diagnosis as this one could be involved with a channel plate gasket or something else. Tough to diagnose from just the info you gave us. I'd run some pressure tests etc on it.

As for the bolt you are missing. Take a close look at the trans. Do you see 3 bolts and a stud wtih the battery cables on it? If so, your car has all it's bolts. The hole you likely see is the dowl pin hole and not a bolt hole. 4 bolts in total on the side you are looking at plus one that's out of sight. FWIW it's not a big deal. I have run on 4 bolts in the past and this weekend a car came in with only 3 total.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Fluid on top of the trans w/o a line peeing on it likely means you bult up a lot of pressure and blew fluid out the breather on top of the trans. I'd swing it by a trans shop for a diagnosis as this one could be involved with a channel plate gasket or something else. Tough to diagnose from just the info you gave us. I'd run some pressure tests etc on it.

As for the bolt you are missing. Take a close look at the trans. Do you see 3 bolts and a stud wtih the battery cables on it? If so, your car has all it's bolts. The hole you likely see is the dowl pin hole and not a bolt hole. 4 bolts in total on the side you are looking at plus one that's out of sight. FWIW it's not a big deal. I have run on 4 bolts in the past and this weekend a car came in with only 3 total.

Thanks BillBoost
well i did run it by a trans shop, the man did a tranny on my friends maxima car ran great afterwards.. no probs at all. So i took to him, he said it might/will be the turbine (said it in spanish, so im assuming its that) or the torque converter.. thats its prolly burnt. He says he still has to open it up to see whats exactly the prob.. i asked how much for a rebuild he says 1400.. I called some Junkyard that actually had a gtp tranny says they want 500 for it.. WORTH IT? IDK how many miles, & all that on it.. the tranny is off a 98, mines a 99.. will a 97 also fit it? or no? since ive seen that some stuff from a 97 is different to other years..

Thanks for your help bill

BTW..
the trans shop guy said it did spill from the breather.. which also the hole for the bolt that i say is close by to it. same thing he says that i built to much pressure & it spilled thru the breather. I check the oil level today & it was marking on the very tip of the dip stick, where it says "add 1pt./ .5 lt." something like that.. so im thinkin that FINALLY its measuring right.. went and bought some dex. VI & poured half a Qt in.. checked it again, marked right in the middle.. so thats how i got to work today & back.. no probs at all, to & from work !..

Are you checking it with the engine running and up to temperature?

The bolt next to the breather is likely the pressure port where a pressure gauge could be hooked up.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Are you checking it with the engine running and up to temperature?

The bolt next to the breather is likely the pressure port where a pressure gauge could be hooked up.

yes..
Engine running & to temp., & on level ground..