Tranny leaking

My tranny just started leaking this week on my '00 Amigo, and I'm about to take it in to a local tranny shop (not the dealer b/c I had a bad experience with the Isuzu dealership here in tallahassee). I've looked underneath for the source of the leak, and I can't really find it. I know it's not coming from the accumulator piston cover. There is some fluid on the bolts of the small pan up front.

But anyways...my amigo has 48k on it, and i've never done anything to the tranny. I've looked all over the board and the faq, and i'm confused with whether to just tell the mechanic to do a drop and filter/fluid replacement or to actually go with a flush? I know i'm only at 48k, but the car is 7 years old (i'm the only owner) and its been through alot of short stop and go traffic (no towing though).

I personally would not flush it; but that's me after having learned some lessons following my last tranny flush.

If you take it in, make sure you do NOT take it to AAMCO, they always come back with - your tranny needs a rebuild, even if nothing's wrong with it.

Definitely have someone drop both pans, clean them, and replace gaskets/filter; they will refill the tranny with apprx 5 qts of new fluid doing it this way. That's at least 50% of new fluid, as this tranny only holds a little over 9 qts.

Then, say maybe after another 5-6k miles or so, perform a drain/refill procedure, roughly 3 qts of new fluid; then you should be good to go for 15-20k miles or so.

I do partial drain/refills on mine every 12-18k, but I do a lot of city driving, AND heavy mountain driving.

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But anyways...my amigo has 48k on it, and i've never done anything to the tranny. I've looked all over the board and the faq, and i'm confused with whether to just tell the mechanic to do a drop and filter/fluid replacement or to actually go with a flush? I know i'm only at 48k, but the car is 7 years old (i'm the only owner) and its been through alot of short stop and go traffic (no towing though).

well it is a tough call. it somewhat depends on your maintenance history for the trans, number and frequency of fluid/filter changes. take a look at this thread over at planetisuzoo and look for the ALL CAPS of JLEMOND a genuine isuzu expert. after reading it, if you need clarification on your particular circumstance he might help.
http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?p=65192

as to the leak, beware trans shops. they will suggest you let them drop that trans for a thorough inspection and before you know it they are rebuilding it. the best thing, really, for you to do is clean everything up, and try to trace the source of that leak. it can be difficult as the fluid is blown all about at speed. it would be fairly easy after cleanup to narrow it down if it is just the gasket or pan bolts.

//bc

Thx Ramblin...I read some of your earlier posts and I'm leaning towards just getting a drop and change the fluid/filter without a flush. I just wanted to make sure by posting my specific mileage and such.

Trooper...yeah, the bottom is pretty much covered in tranny fluid (bottom passenger side) I'm gonna give it one last look tnite and try to wipe everything up and check for the leak again. I'm hoping I got enough fluid to make it to the shop tomorrow. I drove it briefly today, and no slipping at all. Forgot to mention that I think the leak may be a result of me hitting uneven pavement a bit hard. They're repaving a portion of the road near my house, and I didn't see a bump and took it pretty hard. Didn't start leaking immediately though b/c I checked constantly for the next day. Then it's been raining here in fl for the past week, so all traces had been gone. Just saw the leak on friday.

Thx for the info...once I get this back, gotta clean the EGR and do the whole seafoam bit...been burning oil...but thats for another day and another post.

with 7 years on the fluid I would drop the pan for sure.

the leak is probably from the accumulator piston cover (see the faq's for common tranny leak spots.).