No leaks were evident under car but by the time I parked she was two quarts low. Only drove her a mile after adding 2 new qts so will see if any puddles have formed when I get back next week.

2 Qts to lose is one heck of a leak...I would think you'd at least see a spot on the ground if not a trail if it was losing it out the bottom.

Not sure if the car has a vacuum modulator but if so that can be the source of tranny fluid leak. I'm not exactly sure where the fluid would end up in a diesel...I am guessing it would get sucked through the vacuum system to the pump itself eventually...but if you see no sign of a leak and it is still missing the only places it can go are out the modulator or cooler lines.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

not significant to the tranny leak, but it looks from the pics that the A/C is over charged. i don't think you should beable to see the frost on the lines outside of the evaporater.

__________________
-Trevor

OBK #12
1980 300SD 333,XXX miles - Totaled
1986 Mazda RX-7 212,XXX miles - impounded and auctioned off
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited 33,000- SEGR, Provent, Fumoto

Thanks. A few folks pointed that out and I have been offered three theories:
1) A/C is undercharged.
2) A/C is overcharged.
3) Bad evap core temp sensor.

That will be a spring-time project but comment from any A/C gurus is certainly welcomed.

if any charging is off it should be overcharged. sealed systems are set up to keep the refridgerant liquid up to the evaporator. then at the evap the refridgerant expands and cools significantly causing frost. then by the time it reaches the other side there should not be anymore cooling and therefor no frost on the lines afterwards. a good charge will frost the whole evap and nothing more. over charging will burn out your compressor faster and under charged (significant) will not let the compressor run. I work for an appliance repair place and that is where i got my refridgerant info from.

__________________
-Trevor

OBK #12
1980 300SD 333,XXX miles - Totaled
1986 Mazda RX-7 212,XXX miles - impounded and auctioned off
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited 33,000- SEGR, Provent, Fumoto

Unforunately, it will be at least a week before I can even try to solve the mystery. The coolant overflow tank looks like clean antifreeze (green or yellow, I do not recall). If 2 quarts were sucked into the cooler lines I would think you would see it in the overflow???

If a defective vacuum modulator was causing ATF to be drawn by engine vacuum into the intake manifoldcI would expect to see lots of white smoke, almost like steam, from the exhaust. AT least this is what happens on a gasser. I do not see any smoke at all from the tailpipe. Also, in many cases a bad vac modulator results in bad shifting and she was shifting very nicely.

My 100 mile trip was on the highway so I would not have noticed a trail if there was one. I did notice that engine is essentially off the right motor mount. One theory is that this would misalign the rear drive shaft causing a leak at the seal, mostly while in motion. I hope that theory proves true since a rear diveshaft seal is an easy fix and I ordered new motor mounts.

I am not rejecting the theory. Just trying to talk myself out of anything that requires removing or rebuilding the tranny!!! I will sure be happy if I do discover a leaky cooler hose!!