I'm not sure what the name of this part is, I tried to describe it to the guy at the parts store, but I think I knew more about cars than he did(not saying much).

The problem is that it started leaking when the car's cool. I don't know if it's coincidental, but about this same time my transmissoon began acting weird. It seems like it's shifting strangely, especailly when I'm slowing down from 45-50 to about 20, then try to reaccelerate. Does this part have anything to do with that sort of thing, and for that matter, what does the part do?

 

Here's the pic. I'm pretty sure the arrow's correct with where the front of the car is, but I might be wrong. The part is about six inches to the front of the U joint in the driveline, behind the transmission and pretty close to the rear of the transmission.

 

Looks like the speedo cable hold down bracket but
I dont see the speedo cable.

 

I thought it was an electronic speedometer. At any rate, the speedo seems to work all right, I just can't figure out what this part does.

 

the picture isnt clear enough, i think we need a picture of you, under the car, pointing at the part

 

That bracket holds down the driven gear housing.
Take it off with a 10mm wrench, if your speedo
is working ok leave it alone.
Thats what it looks like to me.

 

it the VSS.

 

If it was faulty, would it cause the goofy tranny problems I'm having?

 

It's the electronic VSS. It sends the speed signal to the ecm and the speedometer. It has an o-ring that seals the ATF in the tranny. Pull it out and replace the o-ring.

When it leaks, you've lost some of your ATF which could make your tranny shift funny indeed.

 

if it's leekining fluid it could cause the trans to run low and start sliping. from the pic you posted the base part is wet. so the "O"ring thats under it could be bad. if thats the problem you could get an "O" ring for under $1.oo.