Can any of you guys tell me what the flexible, spring covered hoses pump along to the cooling system? I'm going to guess it's transmission fluid to be cooled and returned? I know the oil cooler is vertical, is there a separate transmission cooler?

I ask because mine are covered in black engine oil and I want to make sure they're not one of the sources of the leak....

Sorry if this is a duh question, I did a bunch of searching and couldn't turn anything up.

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Spring covered hoses are transmission cooler lines. The cooler is part of the radiator. The oil cooler is a separate radiator to the side of the coolant radiator as you stated.

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Cool, so they're pumping ATF then, definitely not the cause of engine oil if that's the case.

Thanks!

Definitely ATF. And, since yours are spring covered, it means someone replaced them in the not too distant past. The originals were not spring covered - the spring covers are an update to protect them from your A/C compressor belt in the event of a collapsed motor mount.

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Good thing my A/C probably hasn't worked since the first Bush era. LOL.

uberwasser, thanks for the info on the spring-cover being non-original. Both my 84 & 85 have them. One started leaking and the hose turned freely on the fitting. I cut off the crimps and installed new hose w/ screw hose clamps. Probably should have bought Oeticker clamps for a slicker look. Replacement hoses are fairly affordable if you can wait.

I don't seen oil on the tranny cooler hoses in the photo, but perhaps it was cleaned up. Several places the oil can leak on the front end, but the crankshaft seal is a common source. Since you have the crank pulley and damper off, now is an opportune time to change it. If so, read the detailed posts. It is tricky aligning the damper base (best to buy new round pins). It is also easy to mess up the lip on the new crank seal. A wiki shows how to cut a yogurt cup to make an insertion tool.

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BillGrissom, thanks for the info, but this isn't a picture of my car lol! It's actually from a DIY thread about changing the crankshaft seal! I've included a photo of the oil leak on my car....

http://a.static.trunity.net/files/152101_152200/152148/dwh_img01.jpg