Subject: `95 Legacy leaking BIG puddles of red fluid...

[Guest]

This morning my mom got up and went to take her `95 Legacy out to do errands
and noticed when driving 3 miles up the road to the post office, a drip that
was leaving a visible fluid line on the pavement. When she got to the post
office, she noticed it was smoking pretty bad underneath the car and
immediately brought it back. At that point I went outside and noticed a 3'
wide puddle of oil/fluid on the driveway. I took some papertowels and
soaked up some of the oil noticing that it was red color which ruled out a
oil pan leak. That along with checking the engine oil showed that it was
still full. So I got to noticing that the smoke was coming from the rear
area of the block and I got to thinking if it was the transmission fluid.
Sure enough when I checked the transmission fluid dip stick it was a little
bit below L and had appearantly leaked most of the transmission fluid out.

When I looked under the car I noticed a visible dripping coming off of the
exhaust (explains the smoke) to a rate of about 1 big drip every 15 seconds.
I got to thinking, if this was a rear main seal, it wouldn't leak that much
fluid out in a period of 12 hours. Because last night when I had her car
out to go get a bite to eat, it was working fine in that no drips, no smoke,
nothing was happening. Whatever happened happened between 2am last night
and this morning. I called the dealership and they doubted it was the
tranny pan or the rear mail seal if it was leaking that fast. They said it
might be some fluid lines. Did something get tossed up under there while
driving last night that severed a line??

Thoughts, ideas??

Dear Brad,
So the car sat there and all by itself started leaking between
2am and this morning? Well, you know what they say, nothing ever
happens good after 2am.

Went out to get a bit to eat? You have to watch those rough roads
going to and from Lovers Lane! I'm just kidding with you. I wish I
was still young enough to enjoy Lovers Lane like I used to, but
sometimes it did take a toll on our cars when we had to leave quickly.

Sounds like you narrowed it down to the transmission, so lets assume
its the transmission for now.

The good news is that it is most likely just a transmission cooling
line. The transmission oil is fed through a line up to the radiator
for cooling and then returns to the transmission through a second line.

On most models, at least parts of these lines are rubber. These can wear
out due to age or get pulled loose. These lines carry almost no pressure.

Climb under the car, observing all safety precautions, have wheels blocked,
don't jack car up unless you rest it on jack stands or car ramps, put in
park and firmly apply hand brake.

Start the engine. Leave car in park. follow lines from transmission to
radiator and back to transmission. You will probably find your leak.

Measure the outside diameter of the metal tube or fitting or the inside
diameter of the rubber tube, or just cut off a piece of defective rubber
tube and take it with you to the auto store. This is a pretty common part.

Replace rubber tube using hose clamps. Remember, very little pressure is
in these lines, but get the right kind of tubing as the wrong kind will
dissolve or crack soon and leak again.

Other possibilities for a fast starting leak;

Bent metal cooling lines from Lovers Lane <grin> sticks and debrie getting
caught under car could crack lines. (just replace with rubber line and keep
out of way of heat and moving parts). Overfilling transmission could blow
out a transmission seal. Bad bearing could wear out a seal, but this
usually starts much slower.

You seem to have eliminated the radiator as a problem because of location.

Always the possibility of a loose fitting on the tranny or hitting the tranny
oil pan with a rock, but we are really searching for Zebras on a horse farm
now.

My impression is the heavy leak occurs when engine is running. I think you
see the residual emptying of tubes or run off after engine is stopped if
dripping too slowly, but maybe that is the running rate of leakage, you
didn't say. Either way, check tranny cooling lines first.

Power steering uses same fluid, but doubt you could have lost this much
fluid without noticing a steering problem.

Good Luck,

Ole Factory Rep (not Subaru)

 

[Eric Cartman]

Check for bits & pieces of bicycle lodged under the car......

 

[johninKY]

Transmission has seal on the input shaft, sort of like the rear engine
main seal. If the hoses are not the source of the leak and if the case is
not cracked, then the leak is probably coming from the front seal. Bad
news because the transmission has to be pulled to install a new seal.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Once the problem has been resolved & fixed don't forget to refill &
check the AT fluid level.