In need of some help.

[71enthusiast]

Well the title states it all. Here is what is going on:
Recently I upgraded my transmission to a th350. Ever since then I've had to pour many of quarts into the tranny whenever I wanted to go somewhere. It was clear that there was a leak but there never was a puddle when I parked it.
So after 4 or 5 gallons of ATF I began to experience some light tail pipe smoke and loss of power. Presumed it was the carburetor at fault but many of tunings suggested otherwise.
It got to the point where I was so annoyed with my motors performance that I had to get to the bottom of this. Well I found cylinder 1 to be misfiring, replaced plug, ran great for maybe 30 miles. So I said "screw it I can make it back home. " needless to say I didn't make it home. Nope about 6 miles from my destination I lost every gear.
Phoned a friend, filled my Trans fired her up an lost all visibility due to a curtain of smoke coming from the exhaust. Well it drove fine so I brought her back and parked it.

I went out to the garage the other day and found a good size puddle under the passenger side engine bay. I checked the oil level and it read halfway up the dipstick. (not halfway as in between the marks but between either end of the stick itself)

The oil looked clean no milkyness whatsoever but the radiator was 75% full even after filling it before the trip. It as well is as clean as can be.

I'm curious if there is a head gasket leak since cylinders 4 and 6 look pretty nasty but if that was the case wouldn't my oil be milky?

And where is all my ATF going!?
Please someone shed some light for me so I can fix this

Some specs:
Gm 350
Edelbrock carb
Rockers and push rods passed visual inspection
Th350 Trans cooled through new radiator

[magwakeenercew2jh]

[QUOTE=71enthusiast;6543755]Well the title states it all. Here is what is going on:
Recently I upgraded my transmission to a th350. Ever since then I've had to pour many of quarts into the tranny whenever I wanted to go somewhere. It was clear that there was a leak but there never was a puddle when I parked it.
So after 4 or 5 gallons of ATF I began to experience some light tail pipe smoke and loss of power. Presumed it was the carburetor at fault but many of tunings suggested otherwise.
It got to the point where I was so annoyed with my motors performance that I had to get to the bottom of this. Well I found cylinder 1 to be misfiring, replaced plug, ran great for maybe 30 miles. So I said "screw it I can make it back home. " needless to say I didn't make it home. Nope about 6 miles from my destination I lost every gear.
Phoned a friend, filled my Trans fired her up an lost all visibility due to a curtain of smoke coming from the exhaust. Well it drove fine so I brought her back and parked it.
I went out to the garage the other day and found a good size puddle under the passenger side engine bay. I checked the oil level and it read halfway up the dipstick. (not halfway as in between the marks but between either end of the stick itself)
The oil looked clean no milkyness whatsoever but the radiator was 75% full even after filling it before the trip. It as well is as clean as can be.
I'm curious if there is a head gasket leak since cylinders 4 and 6 look pretty nasty but if that was the case wouldn't my oil be milky?
And where is all my ATF going!?
Please someone shed some light for me so I can fix this QUOTE]



Bunch of questions:

Was that recent puddle under the passenger side engine oil?

How long before you found that "...the oil level (and it) read halfway up the dipstick..." had you checked the engine oil level?

Do you have any discoloration in your coolant?

What did the plug look like when you pulled it?

Have you climbed under and checked the oil trans oil cooling lines?

Obviously, the ATF is going somewhere. "Many quarts" suggests not a leak out of the trans on to the exhaust to burn off..So, after having
suffered a similar failure, I initially wondered whether there may be a void in the trans cooling sector of the radiator. But, again, the ATF
has to be going somewhere. And, if it were into the coolant in that volume, it would seem you'd recognize that....or at least a color mix
between red and green

If you "lost every gear" after that trans fill up, was the motor spinning and the trans spinning wildly? Or was it the engine that wouldn't rev?

Interesting puzzle.

I'm no expert. But, based on my experience, I'd first want to figure out where that puddle came from under the passenger's side of the motor...
...And, WHAT IT IS?

Next, again based on radiator issues I've previously had, after I checked my ATF cooler fittings at the TH350, I'd "marry the other ends to each other.
Maybe, I'd drain the coolant if I saw some strange color in there.

In your case, I'd want to determine if I had ATF in my engine oil. I don't really know how to do that other than the non-scientific methods...like looking
at it. Draining it and refilling with pure engine oil..and, at the same time, changing the oil filter, obviously.

Then, after cleaning everything up while it's up on jack stands and blocks, and filling the ATF to the correct level...if you can figure that out without draining it...
I can't...I'd run it.


There are other pros that will definitely give you better diagnosis, I'm sure. But what I have suggested won't hurt anything and they are cheap ways to add
data in order to get to the ultimate fix.

[suspect]

Sounds like you have a real problem on your hands. If it was my truck, I would pull the trans & oil pans to see how much fluid comes out. Then just pull the engine/trans out. I would tear the engine all the way down and look for the culprit. It's a lot of work but I hate guess work. Sounds like a bad head gasket. But I have no idea where all your trans fluid is going. It may leak out while your driving. I had a ford ranger that didnt leak on start up, but while I was driving it would warm up and thin out the fluid and pour out like a faucet. I would loose all tranny fluid in the matter of 1 mile.

[BMERDOC]

Have you pulled the line off the vacuum modulator to see if its wet with ATF? The modulator could be seeping, sucking it into the engine and burning it off.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by BMERDOC

Have you pulled the line off the vacuum modulator to see if its wet with ATF? The modulator could be seeping, sucking it into the engine and burning it off.

Ohhhh...THAT's a good one, BMERDOC.