I have a back up vehicle which my son uses occasionally. It’s '1994 Mercury tracer. All the transmission fluid appears to be on the ground. Would that mean the transmission is no good! We haven’t driven it but once this summer.
My son bought some transmission fluid and put it in.
I have 1994 Mercury Tracer. Transmission fluid leaked out.
Does that mean the transmission is shot?
Not necessarily. You have to find out where the leak is and fix it first. It could be as simple as a leaking pan gasket or drain plug. After the leak is fixed, you can refill and test drive the car. Since you said the car has been driven only once this summer, the transmission may still be OK.
But you should have it towed to a trusted independent mechanic who can locate the leak and fix it.
Yep, someone needs to crawl under and take a look at where the fluid is coming from. If there is a big puddle even when the car is not running, it should be fairly easy to determine what the problem is. I’ve had the cooler line going to the radiator develop a leak and that can dump a lot of fluid in a hurry. Either way though you can’t really drive it like that and someone needs to look at it.
- All the transmission fluid appears to be on the ground
- My son bought some transmission fluid and put it in
I have a prediction, see #1.
You need to follow the advice given in the posts above before you add any more fluid.
^
+1
The probability of the “new” transmission fluid winding up on the ground is pretty much of a sure thing, and if that occurs while driving, then the transmission will definitely be a part of history.
So…have the car towed to a reliable independent mechanic, in the hope that the problem is “merely” a disconnected cooling line or a punctured transmission pan. A regular mechanic can handle either of those scenarios.
On the other hand, if you drive it–even after adding fluid–there is a very strong likelihood that you will then need a transmission shop to overhaul the transmission after the trans runs dry.
When a transmission sits unused for a period of time the torque converter drains back into the reservoir. The level of the fluid in the pan will rise to a point where slightly leaky seals will allow substantial amounts of fluid to run out. I have seen two Chrysler transmissions that leaked if the transmission was not run for a week. In both cases the manual shifter and throttle valve shafts would leak. It was a fairly simple job to replace those seals.
After filling up the transmission to the warm/full level, let the transmision sit for a couple of days then remeasure the level without running the engine. Now you have an idea of how much higher the level is after drainback. Look around for shafts entering the transmission at that higher level that show oil seepage.
94 tracer? Not fords brightest idea. I wonder about occasional use of cars. Usually long enough downtime to forget why u decided to not drive it?
The problem could be the lines from the transmission to the radiator. This would be a lucky break if this is the case.