Leaking 48re

[NKenny]

My 60,000 mile truck is leaking from the Transmission, again #@$%!. The leak is coming out of the bottom of the bell casting at the front of the transmission. I suspect it is the pump seal. The transmission still feels pretty good, but there are occasional loose shifts.



Too bad the truck went in at 34,000 miles last year with a leak and the dealer said the truck came overfilled from the factory, charged me for a transmission service, and fixed nothing (Almost identical service I have recieved with the ball joint failure).



The question is... Where do I go from here? Do I pull the trasmission and replace the seal or do I budget for a full scale build so that I don't have to get into the transmission again? Or do I possibly have any direction of recourse with Chrysler since the problem was looked at but not fixed under warranty???

 

[R_Painter]

how bad is it leaking?? the 48re trans has a vent behind the convertor if the fluid is slightly overful,vehicle on a angle or fluid hot it will blow it out the vent causing it to leak out of the inspection plate.

 

[cerberusiam]

The vent will overflow if the trans is over filled, checking cold will cause this.



The fluid level is being checked truck level, in neutral, hot idle. Correct?

 

[nick05]

did they pull you trans when you had it fixed? maybe when the put it back together, they damaged the imput shaft seal when trying to line up the TC. not sure if you know what i 'm talking about, i think, maybe?

anyways if you have receipts that show under warrenty the work is done you should show them that and say the problem wasn't fixed.

 

[Lightman]

If your truck has 60,000 miles it should still be under warrenty 7yr/ 70,000 Mile power train warrenty.

 

[NKenny]

If your truck has 60,000 miles it should still be under warrenty 7yr/ 70,000 Mile power train warrenty.

Yes, that is what I thought. Apparently 2006 only has the 36,000 mile warranty or less than one year in my case.



As for the vent, that may be great news. The fluid has always been good when I have checked, but the dealer claimed the fluid was overfilled when I took it in. Yes, I check in Neutral and at operating temps. I think I will do a bit more investigation on the vent tomorrow. Last check I made there was a bit of foam in the fluid. It may just be that it is time to change the fluid and filter.



They did not remove the transmission during the dealer visit. They ran dye through it and found no leak. It may have well been the vent then as well.

 

[PBrauer]

Are you sure it's ATF? There is a short piece of hose, under the E-manifold that connects the coolant line from the heater core to a piece of tubing that goes around the back of the engine to the trans cooler. If you have orange coolant, and that little piece of hose leaks, as mine does from time to time, it falls on the trans and "drips" right there at the TC access cover. I thought for sure it was ATF at first but it wasn't. It takes a little effort to look down at that hose, which is only a few inches long. Even then, a small leak is hard to see. Color and consistency were a near perfect match, given the easy assumption that it was ATF...



Even if you can't find another source, at least remove the cover to look at the back of it and inside the housing. Nothing special (torque, etc. ) about those little bolts... just a cover. It might be dry in there... or maybe not.



You need to find out what was documented after the earlier fix... No telling what they actually did, if they did anything. Factory's pretty darn good at getting fluid right. It's the rest of us that suck at it... Pretty lame for a dealership to say it's leaking because it was overfilled "at the factory". Worst case would be for it to start coming out the fill/check tube, not to "blow out" a gasket or a seal. Other than the fill tube, I don't think we even have a "vent", but I could be wrong.



Find/check that little hose and double/triple verify it's ATF. My leak was small and intermittent... just enough to leave a thick, dark orange drip right there on that cover. I've had to tighten the clamps two or three times since then too. I have a new hose, just a PITA to get to it. Good luck.

 

[cerberusiam]

The fluid has always been good when I have checked, but the dealer claimed the fluid was overfilled when I took it in. Yes, I check in Neutral and at operating temps. QUOTE]



If you have foam then it is probably a bit over full. I have a suspicion the dealer techs don't know how to chekc it either #@$%! if you are checking it correctly and they are saying it is overfull be suspicious!



Like the pervious poster said, check the coolant hose also.

 

[NKenny]

I will check the coolant hose as my coolant is orange. I planned to pull the check cover this afternoon as well. I have a few good things to look for. I'll report back.

 

[JJPage]

how bad is it leaking?? the 48re trans has a vent behind the convertor if the fluid is slightly overful,vehicle on a angle or fluid hot it will blow it out the vent causing it to leak out of the inspection plate.

The vent will overflow if the trans is over filled, checking cold will cause this.



The fluid level is being checked truck level, in neutral, hot idle. Correct?

Mine was doing the same thing after I had it built by DTT, and installed a DD pan. It was overfilled, and it doesn't take much. Also I had to go back to the stock filter with the plastic housing, the open 727 filter caused it to foam.

 

[ssanders60]

48 RE leak

Your initial trip to the dealer should not have had a charge involved

if the transission came from the factory overfilled as determined by

the dealer. If this is your 2006 vehicle you should call the customer

service number in the back of your warranty book, preferrably while

the truck is at the dealer and explain your problem and it's history.

If you like call them at home or where ever but inform them of your

problem, if there is no abuse involved, addons, chips, and junk

I know they will repair your truck under warranty. When you

call be prepared to hang on the phone, make sure your cell is

fully charged, this allways requires a lot of conversation but

you won't be sorry.



Let us know how you come out.

 

[NKenny]

Are you sure it's ATF? There is a short piece of hose, under the E-manifold that connects the coolant line from the heater core to a piece of tubing that goes around the back of the engine to the trans cooler. If you have orange coolant, and that little piece of hose leaks, as mine does from time to time, it falls on the trans and "drips" right there at the TC access cover. I thought for sure it was ATF at first but it wasn't. It takes a little effort to look down at that hose, which is only a few inches long. Even then, a small leak is hard to see. Color and consistency were a near perfect match, given the easy assumption that it was ATF...





Find/check that little hose and double/triple verify it's ATF. My leak was small and intermittent... just enough to leave a thick, dark orange drip right there on that cover. I've had to tighten the clamps two or three times since then too. I have a new hose, just a PITA to get to it. Good luck.

Well I have never thought I would consider a coolant leak to be a blessing... But I have verified that the little hose is leaking and that the transmission is tight. I will very plainly admit to jumping to conculsions on this one. I am glad to be wrong. Thanks for all of the input and help on this one.

 

[Budpwr66]

Great reading on this leak, I immediately assumed it was transmission fluid also. Color and texture sure looked right in the puddle on the floor. Will be doing a closer inspection tomorrow though... .

 

[MrFixit]

I must say you guys and this site are awesome... ... Came home today in my commuter and saw a drop (quarter size) leak under my truck. With my work clothes on I quickly tried to check it and saw a drip at my TQ cover and on the cross member. Touched the drip and thought it was transmission fluid.



Came in the house complained to the wife about Auto trannies (used to have the NV5600) and had dinner, put kids to bed and started surfing here. I read this post, went back out to the truck with a good light and checked the hose and sure enough wet. Got under the truck and sure enough its the orange fluid all over bottom of the transmission. What a relief this is. Want to say thanks again to you guys

Fixit

 

[WestT]

I had the same problem. It turned out to be a leaking coolant hose near the back of the engine. Just had to tighten up the hose clamp. Good luck.

 

[PaulJohnson]

same thing here i thought it was transmission fluid turn out to be coolant save me 750. 00 thanks guys