ATF everywhere!

[Lars]

Unfortunately I have developed a severe transmission fluid leak, fortunately it happened tonight, a half mile from my house rather than tomorrow when we were going to go camping 100 miles away.

The leak is on the driver side right near the bottom of the radiator and must have been spraying on the fan as my engine compartment is now covered in ATF

Cant really pinpoint the source as it's too dark outside. Are the AT hoses anything special (available at Napa or the sort) or are they a Cdan item?

Regards, from Arizona (where it was fricken 110 degree today),
Larry

 

[cruiserman]

I sure appreciate not living in AZ anymore . The hoses can be had at NAPA.

 

[Sandman]

This sounds a lot like the leak of the power steering cooler that happened to me. The line passes under tha rad in this area and mine had corroded-worn through. Fixed it by cutting out the bad section with a tubing cutter and putting in a section of rubber hose from NAPA. This lasted for a whole year until I had time to put in a section of flex copper with compression fittings. A new cooler is about $300. Good Luck

 

[MoJ]

Last summer the ATF cooler hose on my 91 began to leak right where it connects to the cooler. Pretty easy fix. The hoses at the local parts stores (standard sizez) were an almost impossible fit. Ended up getting the correct metric sized hose from Mr. T. Fit much better. IIRC T fluid takes a special hose.

 

[landtank]

Sounds like another cooler problem to me. They tend to rot out at the bend where it comes up from under the radiator. It's quite easy to bypass the cooler so you can run the truck. To replace the cooler you need to remove the radiator. This is one of the items I changed out as a pm item and mine was pretty bad. If this is the problem I'd throw a fan coupling at it if you haven't already as you'll have that all apart while changing out the cooler.

 

[sjpitts]

Hey Lars

If that leak happens to be coming from the cooler, I just replaced my radiator and you can have the old one. I think the cooler can be replaced in the radiator, but you might just want to replace it with new. I also have some fittings.
Jared

 

[Lars]

I found the leak. I replaced my radiator a few months back and managed to pinch the rubber portion of the AT fluid hose right near where it connects to the metal fitting for the drivers side of the radiator. The hose finally weakened and split. The main culprit was the metal hose fitting was positioned in the radiator in a manner that caused a severe bend in the rubber hose. I dont know how it escaped me back then..... as it was quite obvious. Stupid me

Thanks sjpitts for the offer. Glad I dont need to take you up on it.

Here is the the cracked hose...

All, Thanks for the replies. And thanks Cdan for spending a few minutes on the phone with me this AM.

Regards,
Larry

 

[Lars]

Well I finished this job tonight after what felt like a nationwide search for AT fluid hose. Nobody carries metric sizes. I believe stock is 11mm and all I could find was 3/8".... so thats what I used. 3/8" is too small, just by a hair and it makes getting the hose on in tight quarters very difficult.

Anyone have any ideas where I might find metric size hose? I want to redo this job and replace all the other rubber AT fluid lines.


Regards,
Larry

 

[turbocruiser]

[quote author=Lars link=board=2;threadid=17529;start=msg171609#msg171609 date=1086745818]

Anyone have any ideas where I might find metric size hose? I want to redo this job and replace all the other rubber AT fluid lines.

Regards,
Larry
[/quote]

Lars, I am almost absolutely sure I can get you 11mm hose tomorrow! I have an excellent european performance parts place locally and they always had an excellent supply of metric hose with the braided cloth braid when I was restoring an old 65 Coupe Benz. I would be happy to help by finding it and then shipping it to you. I can go regular USPS or priority or overnight, whatever you want man. Just PM me, if this place for whatever reason does not stock 11mm, I can call first thing in the morning and let you know. I was wanting to call them anyway to see if they have the 16 mm for the heater hoses and such. HTH...Same offer goes to whoever wants hose, if this stuff is so elusive, and if I can get it easily, I'll get it for anyone at the same cost it costs, no bull**** just think of it as an extension of the Cruiser Assistance Club! Let me know.

 

[landtoy80]

3/8 Napa is to small.
Gates from Carquest 3/8 works great.

 

[Lars]

[quote author=turbocruiser link=board=2;threadid=17529;start=msg171624#msg171624 date=1086748087]
Lars, I am almost absolutely sure I can get you 11mm hose tomorrow! I[/quote]


TC,
Thanks for the generous offer. Let me see if I can find it locally since you gave me another idea for a place to try. I also found a place I want to try online. If neither of these work out I would like to take you up on your offer. I'll shoot you a PM either way.

landtoy,

We dont have Carquest in Az... well only 3 of them and they are hundreds of miles away from me. What I ended up with is Goodyear hose.


Regards,
Larry

 

[medtro]

Lars,

Where do you live? See if you find a closer store from this list. Their 3/8" ATF hose is great.

 

[Lars]

Thanks medtro. I dont know why those stores didnt show up in 'zip code' search last night. I'll try them.