i was out getting a burrito about 10 minutes ago, and on my way back i saw this awesome 2nd gen camaro, so i wanted to catch up to it. i had finally got my car running awesome, so i floor it, its running fine, then i see the temp gauge get kinda warm so i slow down a bit, since i hadnt purchased an air dam yet so im driving about a mile away from my house and i notice smoke, i check the gauge, oil pressure, seems like everythings fine, i limp it home, cars acting normal but smoke is coming out the wazzoo. i park it in my spot open the hood, cant find anything. look under the car, theres a puddle of atf all over the ground. what happened? i blew a tranny cooler line, actually what had happened was about a year ago the tranny gave out on me, i got it rebuilt, and installed, the dude told me that theres a 4 inch section where the cooler line got messed up so he took it out and replaced it with a thing rubber atf hose.


guess what gave out? that little rubber hose, atleast i think it is.

now my question is, how expensive is a new cooler line? also, can i just plumb in a new hard line and fittings instead? and this car hasnt even seen 1,000 miles on this new tranny,so its basically new inside, i know i probably hurt it a good bit, but it did shift into reverse fine, 1st 2nd, thats all i could go into at the time, whats the likelihood the trannys toast? and should i expect the guy that rebuilt the transmission to accept full responsibility in repairing it if anything is later found wrong with it?

I really doubt there is any transmission damage,
hose probably just blew off the end of the cut-off
tranny line end after the rubber under the clamps
relaxed and got loose,always best to use 2 clamps on
each end or flare the pipe ends just a bit to help keep
the hoses on,from what i remember there is'nt all that
much pressure on the cooler lines. For a replacement
should be able to get one at a junkyard.

You could always cut and flare the ends of what's on it. Then you would have a full hard line again.

with a regular flare kit should be fine right?

go to napa, chances are you can get a pre-bent cooler line for a decent price. then just pop the old one out and screw the new one in. only thing you'll need to know is if its the sending or receiving line.. and just do it yourself and save the money, only tools you'll need is a 19 and a 16 open end wrenches. also most good shops will offer a warentee on their work, so if you had them put a line in and it have out they should fix it and any damage to the tranny for free.

im trying to do this for relatively cheap since i dont have much cash. im sure my mechanic will probably just just flare the lines and put in some fittings or something. is that good enough?

also hes just a mobile mechanic who works for a body shop, he used to do my work until i enrolled into an auto program so i do most of my work now. should i ask him if he'll fix it free of charge, or should he have to fix it?

you can connect the two metal lines together with a brass flare. It is the proper way to repair damaged steel lines if it isn't in an easy spot to replace the whole line. Any good local trans shop should have access to them. your line is probably standard 5/16". You could also get the brass from an appliance repair shop/i've done this repair many times and it is much safer than rubber. you just use a tubing cutter on both steel lines so they are smooth and use the compression fitting to connect them together.
NOTE:transmission fluid is very flammable. make sure to hose it off with soap and water/not flammable brake cleaner.

ive never done that before so lemme try to grasp it.


i cut the lines so theyre smooth, then flare the ends so that i can put fittings on each end and then use another piece of metal, or more fittings to connect them?

no flaring is required at all. they are compression fittings.
if you've ever hooked up a oil pressure gauge to an engine or fixed a swamp cooler for a house (I've seen them all over oakland), you've used compression fittings.
you just slip both cooler lines into one central piece and walla. tighten both ends.

thanks for the help, so i just need one that fits 5/16's correct?

also would u happen to have a picture of what the compression fitting is supposed to look like, i cant seem to pull up a picture of it anywhere

if you want to fix it cheap, like for 10 bucks, just use rubber hose, clamps, and zip tie it away from the exhaust, if you want to do it right, bend up some line and go that route, the steel line is pretty cheap, just takes time.