I haven't had a chance to put the car up on ramps yet, but I want to know what to look for when I do. I can look under the car now and see trans fluid drops on the back of the catalytic, actually on the connecter that connectds the cat to the exhaust pipe. The drops that come off are reddish brown, which is why I am assuming it is trans fluid. At least I now know what that "burning" smell is, when I shut off the engine. On startup, I sometimes get smoke coming up from under the car. There is absolutely no trans fluid dripping on the bottom of the pan. So is it leaking out behind the pan, where the driveshaft goes in ? Since there's no drip on the pan, I assume the leak is from behind the trans.
Thanks

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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

Could be several things...trans lines are on that side, rear seal, dip stick seal....

Time to crawl under there and take a look.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"

 

Be sure to check your lines. I was having the same problem and it turned out that the return line was rubbing aginst the starter and had rubbed a hole through.

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85T/A 305/QJ work in progress.

 

Hey, thanks for the answers so far. I got the car up enough to see that the drip is coming straight down from the driveshaft at the connection to the trans, out of the seal. What is that seal called? I have to assume the leak is coming right out of that seal, unless there is something else above the driveshaft that could be leaking down around the seal. I think the shaft is flinging the fluid sideways onto the exhaust.
Is it just the seal leaking ? Is there anything above the seal, like a vacuum modulator, that could be leaking ? Thanks

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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

Its the tailshaft seal.

Some places call them output shaft seals.

the only other thing that will cause a leak there is if the driveshaft itself has a groove in it from the seal. Not too common though.

Just pull driveshaft out, and pry old seal out, beat in new one with hammer.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"