anyone who gives their time to help me I am very grateful as I know this may be a totally easy thing and im just having a gigantic brain fart.

the car is an 1988 camaro base with the 5.0L tbi and the 700r4 transmission dipstick tube for the trans is on the passenger side it has 125,xxx miles on it.

ok so here goes, i was driving my car up a hill and all the sudden the car started to smoke. pull over to find out trans fluid was leaking onto the exhaust y pipe. however it only leaks on the right side (passenger) of the car. I got under it to see where it was leaking from and fluid was all over the right side of the trans but only on the right side none on the left (driver) or top. it also seems to be coming from toward front of the car. so i thought dipstick tube or seal or possibly a detent cable seal gone bad. the leak doesn't really start until the car has been running for 5-7 minutes and the smoke and drippage is minimal at idle. maybe a drop every two seconds, no cracks in the bellhousing that i can see or feel. but very wet up toward the tube and shifter tab and the like but upper right of bell housing is dry.

so im leaning toward the tube and seal but i think it could be something else detent cable seal? other seal?



i gave a reference to sides because i figured when i say left or right i could mean in relation to sitting in the car looking at it from the side etc. the more specific the info the better right?

Have you looked at all the lines closely? If the fluid is everywhere I'd assume that it wasn't just a leak, but a pressure line failure. I'd examine all the lines and fittings closely and go from there.

hmm. thank you very much ill check that tonight and see whats what.

Take the car to the quarter car wash. Stop along the way and pick up a can or 2 of engine degreaser (diesel fuel in a spray can). Park the car in the car wash bay; shut it off; wait a few minutes for stuff to cool down (remember, you're about to shoot FUEL all over it); douse everything related to "transmission" with the cleaner; wait another few minutes; crawl up under there and blast THE HELL out of everything until it's STERILE. Drive it a few blocks.

Get up under it and LOOK. Wherever you see fresh fluid, THAT'S where it's leaking. Fix THAT. No guessing, no "maybe it's this maybe it's that", no "leaning"; you will KNOW, and above all, you will GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Which is generally considered "good".

perhaps a line or the front seal. they dont narmally wear that easy in my experience but when they do they cause all sorts of hell.

i've had good luck in the past with cleaning the tranny real good, then putting baby powder all over it. let it run for a few minutes. the powder will turn pink where your leak is.

they also have spray paint type stuff that goes on white like powder but stick and wipes off the areas only where its leaking, basically what joe was saying.

cool beans on the baby powder. didn't think to clean the trans and check again. thanks for the suggestions i'm gonna clean it up and then see where in the world its coming from.sorry if it drove some of you up the walls i am kinda clueless some times. thanks sofaking,tyler,and joe. oh and sofakingdom the quote in your signature is occams razor right? , very cool.

OK an update for those of you who may be curious I have found the problem so this one is solved. and now for the wonderful cost its gonna inflict the culprit was captain FrontPumpSeal in the BellHousing with a Blowout. for those who don't like my humor or don't get it. it was a bad front pump seal strangely enough, cooler lines are in rough shape though. either way problem solved and thank you to all whom helped.

SOLVED

i was right!

What kind of repair $$$ wise for the pump seal problem??? Is it a DIY er or is a shop needed??

The seal and bushing should be pretty cheap, it's the labor that will be expensive.

It requires removal and disassembly of the pump. So, the transmission has to come out. It can be a DIY project, but is not a simple job, the pump halves need to be perfectly realigned or you will not get the pump back in for starters. I think of all the things a guy could work on in the car, the 700R4/4L60 is one of the more complicated tasks. As long as you take your time, and have the proper manuals and maybe a video, it can be done.

You will need to replace the pump gasket in the bellhousing and the teflon rings on the input shaft and pump stator. Might as well replace the seals and the pump screen while you are in there. However, if you are going through the trouble of removing the transmission and the pump, it may be a good time to rebuild the whole thing and make modifications that will improve the transmission.

As for the tool to realign the pump, it is very expensive. It can be done with a very large hose clamp or two put together. If you take your time you may be able to do it without a tool, just check alignment around the pump as you tighten the screws hand tight. I did it that way on mine and it worked like a charm.