I have 1999 Mazda Protege that has a transmission fluid leak. I took it to a transmission shop close by, and they said it is either the torque converter or the front pump. I also have oil in the coolant reservoir, which I was told they wouldn’t be able to tell where the oil is coming from until the leak is fixed.
My question, is what could have caused either the torque converter or the front pump to leak? Wear and tear and old age? Or could it have been caused by something else?
I realize at some point I will just have to decide, but any input on whether it’s a worthwhile fix? The shop quoted me $787 for the front pump, and said the torque converter would be a few hundred more. That’s not taking into account the possible issue with the radiator from the oil in the coolant reservoir.
The car has approximately 160,000 miles on it. The catalytic converter will need to be fixed at some point in the future, the O/D light is flashing (though I’m not sure if it’s related to my transmission problems at all), cruise control doesn’t work, and the drivers side mirror is broken… Any input or suggestions would be welcome!
This sounds like the radiator may have a problem, and it may well have damaged the transmission.
Automatic (I just made an assumption) transmissions have a set of lines that run from the transmission to the radiator. There’s a cooler in the bottom of the radiator to keep the transmission from overheating (and to assist it warming up). If there’s a problem with this cooler, and it leaks, you’ll have transmission fluid in the engine/radiator/reservoir, and likely it’ll appear that the level in the transmission is dropping. Although…I would expect coolant to get into the transmission, too.
Something to check out, anyway.
If it IS coolant, and it IS getting into the transmission (in other words, if my W.A.G. is right), then you don’t have long to fix it before the transmission needs to be replaced.
On the other hand, if you’ve got a gasket leaking, it’s no big deal. Let’s hope for that.
By the time I got done reading your story I was expecting to find out that your dog was pregnant, your wife has a gas leak and your stove has fleas. Really, you seem to have deferred maintenance on this car long enough. At this point you will be spending some serious money on it and it’s really doubtful, based on the problems you seem to have let accumulate, that it’s worth fixing. You might want to consider using your cash as a way to get a newer, better maintained car. Loan rates on cars are very low now, even for used cars. Check with a credit union.