Scared the hell out of me

[silicon212]

I just love major problems that turn out to be quick, dirty $10 fixes.

I was driving my car on Dobson Road, around town here this afternoon (well, an hour ago), when I pulled up to a light at Baseline Road. As soon as I came to a stop, thick smoke poured out from under the car. I wasn't sure if the car was on fire or not. So, I proceeded across Baseline, came to the first left turn and pulled off the road. As I stopped to make the left turn, thick gray smoke began to issue forth from under the car again. I was trying to put a finger on the smell - it smelled like burning transmission fluid, but the transmission wasn't slipping or otherwise misbehaving. So, I pulled into an Albertson's parking lot and rolled to a stop. Popped the hood, but looked under the car first. Transmission fluid was literally peeing out of a rubber plug on the bottom of the pan. Many of you here might remember trans trouble I had a couple of years back, and the 50k mile junkyard trans that I got to replace it with. This one had a rubber plug instead of a real drain plug on it, and I had always meant to replace the pan with the one I have with a real plug, but it was a low priority. Well, the plug broke in half, emptying the pan.

Long story short, the oil trail began a little more than a half mile from where I parked it. The transmission never slipped! No damage beyond what a lake of hot fluid tends to do to asphalt.

I put another temp plug on it, this weekend I will swap the pan. It's a little higher priority now.

[deesandvees]

That's a good way to change your fluid

[silicon212]

That's what I said!

Moral of the story: If your pan has a rubber plug, fix it! Fix it NOW! In this case, haste SAVES waste.

[96capricemgr]

Yesterday at 5:30am on the way to work I came to a stop and smoke started to billow in through the vents. Had a jug of milk in the car because I eat cereal at break well I grabbed the jug popped the hood figuring on putting out a fire with milk. Well no fire but right where the rubber tranny hose meets the steel way down by the lower in radiator cooler fitting there was a rust induced pin hole squirting fluid up to the alternator, the trail says that under power it was hitting the hood pad and all the way backl to the firewall. Being an LT1 this means it was all over the cat and everything. $75 tow home, 4 hours late for work, 2 quarts of fluid and half a gallon of Simple green to clean it all up.

I actually had a spare hard line but things were not coming apart and the rust was very localized so I cut it a little shorter slipped the rubber back on and double clamped it. Will hit it with PB blaster periodically for awhile and try again to change the hardline.

The scare smoke like that gives you is not something I enjoy.

[mike561]

Kind of reminds me back when i had my car for only like 2 weeks, the "gooseneck" thermostat housing cracked and coolant started spraying everywhere, luckily as easy as these engines are setup that was another easy fix. i also replaced my oil drain plug too just for precautions. you think my tranny has that little plug you mention? i never really looked last time i had it up on the lift...

[PeteA216]

You probably don't have the plug seeing neither my '84, or either of my '85 Caprices with the 700R4 had any drainplug at all... although it's be insanely easy to find out, just get on the ground and take a peek at your pan. Lol, Silicon it looks like your car didn't wanna wait for you to change your fluid, so it took things into it's own hands. Watch, you're late to change your oil and the drain plug mysteriously unthreads itself while you're driving.

[silicon212]

LOL ... Sometimes I do wonder if it is possessed. When I drive with the windows down, the wind buffets around under the dash and the radio throws this strange 'buzzing' sound into the speakers that corresponds to the buffeting of the air under the dash. Strange.

[bobss396]

A little tranny fluid goes a long way and it has this little-known property that allows it to run UP your arm when under the car.

I was driving my '68 Mustang GT fastback down the road one hot summer day in 1981 and I had a similar cloud from under the hood. I basically pulled over, grabbed my wallet and sunglasses and exited the car.

I then realized it wasn't a "fire" fire and popped the hood. One of the rubber hoses splicing the lines to the cooler (I was running a stick shift radiator) had let go. I was around the corner from a junkyard that I was friendly with and quickly came up with a piece of hose and fixed it in 5 minutes. Added a quart when I got to the first parts store and all was fine. I did eventually blow up the C4 (how appropriately named) a few months later.

Bob