I just got back from the Transmission shop and they gave me an estimate of anywhere between $300 and $700 to fix my transmission that is leaking fluid from somewhere on the upper front section. They said that it could be as simple as a new seal on the pump or it could be much more complicated and requre a new pump, torque converter, etc. They also said I could save $250 if I pull the transmission and just bring it in to get it fixed. How hard of a job is it to pull the transmission out? Is it doable without a lot of special tools? Also, once the tranny is off how hard is it to identify the leaking seal and replace it. I am thinking about having them do it, but $700 is too much for me to put into this car. Are the chances good that it is just the pump seal? The car drives and runs great, quick shifts, etc. it just leaks a lot of fluid. I have no problem putting down $300 on it, if it is pretty certain it is just a pump.

Thanks for the help.

 

nope no special tools to remove the trans, actually i just did it today i was kinda lounging around while doing it took me a couple hours,

raise the car ramps, stands, whatever you use, raise the front and rear, it makes life alot easier. don't forget to remove the tv cable from the mount up by the intake, other than that its simple, the top 2 bolts are kinda tight clearance, but its not to bad. if you have a haynes or chilton book, they have a section on removing the trans, if you don't have the book get one, it will answer alot of questions for about $10

also if you have oil leaks or other things that need to be done to the motor you may want to consider pulling out the whole thing at one time,
thats actually what i am doing is fixing odds and ends of things,

if you have any questions just ask

 

If you're lucky it's just the front convertor seal or front pump seal. The worse scenario is you've got a spun front pump bushing, I've seen these trans do that from time to time. For some reason the 700R4 is hard on that front bushing. If you pull the trans yourself(I know I would the're not that hard) you'll be able to look into the front convertor seal and see if that bushing is loose or pushed forward. Another way to get the TV cable out is to unhook the cable from the linkage and then go down underneath to the trans side and undo the 10mm headed bolt that holds the cable to the trans case,lift up the cable housing and unhook it from the TV rod, you will loose fluid if you dont drop the pan and drain it . If you do it this way the cable stays in the car and you dont have to worry about pulling it out and then having to route it back in. Good luck!