redraif
The uphill battle begins
I swear I'm over this leak. We have been chasing it since we decided to get this rig back running.
2001 xls 4wd montero sport 3.0l.
History on the tranny:
When we bought the sport it had a bad transmission. We bought a new used one from LKQ. It was a low mile transmission. 60,000 if I remember right. At the next oil change I was told it had leak at the transfer case to transmission. Long story short. They refused to warrenty the seal and promptly were out of business. They blamed it on the transfer case. It was only a little drip and honestly with all the chaos of the other issues it got forgotten. It had a some massive oil leaks. We kept fixing things. Only thing left was a stripped oil pan bolt that leaked like crazy! The tranny leak became a non issue, I never saw drips, though the oil leak could have masked it. But the trans fluid level stayed fine and all seemed well.
Current issue:
It sat for over a year. I noticed some transmission fluid when we got it running. We took it in to the shop to ask him to check out the leaks. He sorted out the last oil leak, which was a stripped pan bolt. well we got it home and the trans leak was obvious now. I took it back and he said it was the transmission pan. Well finally last week he focused on it. I remined him that he told me it was leaking at the joint bw tranny & transfer case. He swore it was the tranny pan. So I agreed to due a transmission service. With my daughter taking it in 3 feet of mud before it was parked and having a trans light for a moment, I figured it was a good ldea. Well I told him everything transmission related needed to come from mitsubishi. So that's what they did. He pulled the pan and replaced the filter. Said the fluid was not bad looking at all.
So here is where things went sideways. He went to refill the trans once it was buttoned up. He said it called for about 5 quarts to refill after a service. Well it took about 4 then refused anymore unless you filled it really slow. He said it just sat in the funnel and did not move. He was baffled it took less then it called for, but went with it. He sectioned out the access from the tube and got it to the proper level then drove it and things seemed ok shifting wise. He checked it again and filled it slowly a few times and got it dialed back in on the dip stick. Drove it again and it stayed where it was supposed to. So he said it was good to go.
So we took it home. The 5 minute drive was uneventful. I jumped on it a few times and it seemed normal. Drove it thru a few slow accelerations too. Again all was well shift wise. So I parked it for the weekend.
Monday I took it to the bus station. Now this was a 10-15 minute trip one way. On the way home it must have started dripping tranny fluid again. It left a trail down the driveway. I slipped it's drip pan under and had a 2 foot puddle by morning. ******?
I looked at the rig from below. The whole side of the motor on the drivers side was wet. From the frame rail, suspension, steering shaft to the block. Not sure if it's from when he overflowed the tube or from what is going on now. He said he cleaned off all the spill, but i could not tell it. So i cleaned it up with 5 cans of brake cleaner to dry up the splatter and see if a trail showed itself on the way back to the shop. I took it back to him Wednesday morning.
So I researched an posted on the Montero Sport forum, but want more input.
The concensus is that he overfilled it and it was puking back out the tube once the trans got to proper operating temps. It did not show itself on the 5 min trip cause it was too short. The 10-15 minute trip got it hot enough and exposed the overfill. He must now have driven it far enough at the shop. Or is it an internal pressure issue?
The mechanic looked at it after I cleaned it and drove it too him. He says the leak pattern is consistent with it puking up the tube and leaking down and splattering rearward and down. He does not know why though. I told him it was a suspected overfill and he stated it read right on the dip stick. Well maybe the trans was not all the way heated up. Needed a longer drive and more shifting through the gears. He wanted to talk to a transmission guy who is his friend, but was open to my and the forums input.
So why did it fill abnormally slow? I discovered in another thread that there is a vent tube on the top of the transmission. Well maybe it's blocked, dry rotted, or melted shut. Could it be causing abnormal pressures and causing the tranny to puke fluid as it vents pressure out the tube as that is its only exit besides the vent? I mean if you think about it.... old portable gas cans had a vent you open when you pour gas out of the spout. If you forgot the gas glugged as air was having to move in the same hole to equalize the pressure. So potentially if the vent can't vent, the fluid had to go slow and glug down the fill tube as air bubbles passed the same space going up?
I hope my crazy explanation makes sence.
One posting in another thread a guy stated the sports have been know to have transmissions overheat when the vent fails. This has been known to happen due to the vent and manifold being too close to one another. The vacuum line part of the vent melts shut.
Now my tranny has never overheated, but I have also not pushed it hard & it's been cold here also.
Any thoughts you guys? Ever had one puke back up its tube? What could it be? Does my possible vent failure senario make any sence? I told the shop about it but he has yet to check the vent. He says he is still waiting on a call from the tranny guy. Ugh! Is it that hard to check the vent?
2001 xls 4wd montero sport 3.0l.
History on the tranny:
When we bought the sport it had a bad transmission. We bought a new used one from LKQ. It was a low mile transmission. 60,000 if I remember right. At the next oil change I was told it had leak at the transfer case to transmission. Long story short. They refused to warrenty the seal and promptly were out of business. They blamed it on the transfer case. It was only a little drip and honestly with all the chaos of the other issues it got forgotten. It had a some massive oil leaks. We kept fixing things. Only thing left was a stripped oil pan bolt that leaked like crazy! The tranny leak became a non issue, I never saw drips, though the oil leak could have masked it. But the trans fluid level stayed fine and all seemed well.
Current issue:
It sat for over a year. I noticed some transmission fluid when we got it running. We took it in to the shop to ask him to check out the leaks. He sorted out the last oil leak, which was a stripped pan bolt. well we got it home and the trans leak was obvious now. I took it back and he said it was the transmission pan. Well finally last week he focused on it. I remined him that he told me it was leaking at the joint bw tranny & transfer case. He swore it was the tranny pan. So I agreed to due a transmission service. With my daughter taking it in 3 feet of mud before it was parked and having a trans light for a moment, I figured it was a good ldea. Well I told him everything transmission related needed to come from mitsubishi. So that's what they did. He pulled the pan and replaced the filter. Said the fluid was not bad looking at all.
So here is where things went sideways. He went to refill the trans once it was buttoned up. He said it called for about 5 quarts to refill after a service. Well it took about 4 then refused anymore unless you filled it really slow. He said it just sat in the funnel and did not move. He was baffled it took less then it called for, but went with it. He sectioned out the access from the tube and got it to the proper level then drove it and things seemed ok shifting wise. He checked it again and filled it slowly a few times and got it dialed back in on the dip stick. Drove it again and it stayed where it was supposed to. So he said it was good to go.
So we took it home. The 5 minute drive was uneventful. I jumped on it a few times and it seemed normal. Drove it thru a few slow accelerations too. Again all was well shift wise. So I parked it for the weekend.
Monday I took it to the bus station. Now this was a 10-15 minute trip one way. On the way home it must have started dripping tranny fluid again. It left a trail down the driveway. I slipped it's drip pan under and had a 2 foot puddle by morning. ******?
I looked at the rig from below. The whole side of the motor on the drivers side was wet. From the frame rail, suspension, steering shaft to the block. Not sure if it's from when he overflowed the tube or from what is going on now. He said he cleaned off all the spill, but i could not tell it. So i cleaned it up with 5 cans of brake cleaner to dry up the splatter and see if a trail showed itself on the way back to the shop. I took it back to him Wednesday morning.
So I researched an posted on the Montero Sport forum, but want more input.
The concensus is that he overfilled it and it was puking back out the tube once the trans got to proper operating temps. It did not show itself on the 5 min trip cause it was too short. The 10-15 minute trip got it hot enough and exposed the overfill. He must now have driven it far enough at the shop. Or is it an internal pressure issue?
The mechanic looked at it after I cleaned it and drove it too him. He says the leak pattern is consistent with it puking up the tube and leaking down and splattering rearward and down. He does not know why though. I told him it was a suspected overfill and he stated it read right on the dip stick. Well maybe the trans was not all the way heated up. Needed a longer drive and more shifting through the gears. He wanted to talk to a transmission guy who is his friend, but was open to my and the forums input.
So why did it fill abnormally slow? I discovered in another thread that there is a vent tube on the top of the transmission. Well maybe it's blocked, dry rotted, or melted shut. Could it be causing abnormal pressures and causing the tranny to puke fluid as it vents pressure out the tube as that is its only exit besides the vent? I mean if you think about it.... old portable gas cans had a vent you open when you pour gas out of the spout. If you forgot the gas glugged as air was having to move in the same hole to equalize the pressure. So potentially if the vent can't vent, the fluid had to go slow and glug down the fill tube as air bubbles passed the same space going up?
I hope my crazy explanation makes sence.
One posting in another thread a guy stated the sports have been know to have transmissions overheat when the vent fails. This has been known to happen due to the vent and manifold being too close to one another. The vacuum line part of the vent melts shut.
Now my tranny has never overheated, but I have also not pushed it hard & it's been cold here also.
Any thoughts you guys? Ever had one puke back up its tube? What could it be? Does my possible vent failure senario make any sence? I told the shop about it but he has yet to check the vent. He says he is still waiting on a call from the tranny guy. Ugh! Is it that hard to check the vent?
I hate I had to do a transmission service to find this out... LOL! But all in all it was a necessary step in the grand mystery. We had already planned on doing a service on it anyway after the mud bath.