Transmission Fluid Cooler Leak

[whemme]

Wanted to inform others of a transmission fluid cooler leak that I recently experienced in my 2000 E-450 when I went to leave super cold Iowa on our annual trip to Phoenix. My departure was delayed 2 days because of the discovery of dripping purple-red fluid from just behind the front bumper which of course was determined to be transmission fluid leaking from its cooler mounted directly in front of the engine radiator.

It was very cold (-15 degrees) on the Saturday morning Jan 9th of my planned departure but had to wait until Monday to find a service shop open to fix the problem. They found the cause of the leak to be loose worm clamps on both the inlet and outlet hoses going to the cooler. Fix was simple and was accomplished by using a socket wrench reaching thru the lower front grill area and was accomplished at no charge.

The mechanic said that both clamps were very loose - probably made worse because of the extreme cold. Weird that with a 7 year old coach with 50,000 miles on it that it had not exhibited any sign of a leak earlier.

Others might want to check these hose clamps because enough loss of transmission fluid will cause a transmission failure - a rather expensive problem that you want to avoid.

[bcope01]

Bill, good info. Also glad to hear that you caught it in time and the fix was simple & priced right.

Bill