Last night after completing an 80 mile round trip, my car was "smoking" from the engine compartment. Opened the hood, and the smoke seemed to be coming from the back of the engine compartment around the oil filter area. Looked to see if there were any obvious leaks but couldn't locate the exact source of the smoke. I figured maybe some motor oil was being burned off from an oil change I had done 1 week ago.

This morning I noticed perhaps 3 or 4 quarter sized drop under the car where the transmission pan is. In addition, the drops were the characteristice reddish color of ATF. I had changed the transmission fluid and filter (unfortunately used old gasket) in November of last year. No problems, not a drop of leakage since the change. I rarely drive more than 10 miles on the car in each trip (again, unfortunately for the car) but have driven 60 to 100 mile trips since the change without any leaks or problems. I have not had any problems shifting, pretty smooth actually including last night. Checked the ATF fluid level and it was not low but if anything, a little high. Of course, I checked it very quickly this morning. I will recheck later. Unfortunately, not many opportunities to check when the transmission has gone 20 miles or so to check level at 80 degrees.

Coincidentally, my parents car also has the same symptoms about 6 months ago. The 94 c280 smoked from the engine bay after a 100 mile run with some ATF leakage. The mechanic who had changed the ATF a week prior eventually said it was some washer (not the gasket) that should have been replaced with the change??? I don't know. I thought maybe the ATF was overfilled. I will look underneath.

What do you guys think about my case? AND Opinions on running the car with the symptoms?
Look forward to your inputs.

Did you ever get a resolution ?

Sounds similar to my C36 after a 200-mile round-trip.

Neil

Update me. My 94 c280 is doing the exact same thing.

__________________
1994 C280, dark green metallic
105k miles

1991 190E 2.6, Black
191,500 miles
(sold to another forum member)

2003 Chevy Tahoe LT, Redfire Metallic
105k miles

1989 Mustang GT Cobra Convertible
43k miles

Yep, my tech overfilled it.

M.B. Doc told me that it needs to be 15-20mm BELOW the lowest fill mark when the engine is started and the tranny has been running for 5-minutes.

All is well now.

:-) neil