tranny leak

[ItSnOtAn M]

whats up guys...
i have a 1990 325ic with a massive tranny fluid leak.. im not to familiar with automatics beacause this is my 1st one, but its coming from up top somewhere around the dipstick area. Its covering my starter, running down the left side (drivers side) of the motor, and from driving on the highway- its all over my back bumper.

im assuming its not from the torque converter because theres only oil on the left side of the motor, and when the tranny was off the car, it was dry in there... i have no pics because i sprayed it with brake cleaner to clean it up..

any ideas?? leak out of the dipstick?? pressure problem?? cracked fill tube?? dont know how or where to start....

[jlevie]

The transmission cooler lines run on that side of the engine bay and might be a possibility. But this leak could be from the power steering or from the engine.

Once everything gets wet with oil it can be difficult to identify the source. Throughly cleaning the engine and then watching for the first sign of oil will tell you where the leak is.

[ItSnOtAn M]

thanks for the reply... its definitly not from the power steering and not motor oil, its fresh tranny fluid... I'm gonna look into the cooling lines in the morning because I'm stuck at work.... thanks again

[jlevie]

The power steering system and the transmission both take ATF, so it may not be obvious from the color of the fluid where it is coming from...