Technical Transmission Fluid out the exhaust!!

yeah, it's red in color but have you felt it between your fingers to see if it's actually lubricant based(trans fluid) or just rusty water(condensation)?

 

Anthony, an easy way to tell is get a sample of the fluid and drop it in water. If it blends and mixes, it is condensation and/or antifreeze based. If it floats, it's an oil or a petroleum-based fluid.

 

Well the pain in the ass way but definitive is, start removing parts of the exhaust system from the back going forward. Check each part and see where the red residue is at. If you get all the way to the exhaust manifold / header and still find it, you will have to check the cyl head. If you make your way up the exhaust system and find where it is NOT then you have it narrowed down to well a close spot. Pain in the ass but either it is inside the engine or in the external exhaust system. Sounds like fun.

 

Let's assume someone did connect the transmission vent to an intake vacuum port. That would mean the ATF would be introduced into intake manifold, then pass through the intake valve into the combustion chamber and be included in the ignition firing and the fuel burn before it could get into the exhaust manifold.

Tell me how the ATF that has been burned in the combustion process (so it can get into the exhaust manifold) still be in a liquid form, and it still be red/pink? Or tell me how it got from the intake manifold into the exhaust system without going through the burn process.

 

This quote should have been added to my last post too. (I thought it would show up.)

 

How about a radiator problem, atf getting into the cooling system along with a head gasket problem or something like that?

 

Where you keep your car?
Are there other persons in that space?

 

Since Anthony is helping me with my car I thought I would sign up and get involved. While I occasionally ask my self what the hell was I thinking, between me and Anthony we are unlikely to confuse rusty water and oil.
So a little history. While I say the exhaust is new it was put on just prior to covid. I say it's new because it doesn't have 200 miles on it and looks new. Prior to covid the car ran perfect. When covid hit with no car shows it had nowhere to go. I would pull it out of the garage every year and take it around the block but that was all. At some point it developed a horrendous smoking. I only just got the time to deal with it. I assumed it was going to be something in the engine. At the end of last year I noticed what appeared to be transmission fluid pouring from the bottom of the muffler, I assumed it was dripping from above and put the car away for the winter. This week with Anthonys help we adjusted the brakes and I took it out for a test. As I pulled away Anthony saw what looked like trans fluid pouring from the exhaust pipe. Attached is a pic taken under the tail pipe, rusty water would have dried. I poured water on it and you can see it beading as it would from oil. It's hard to get in a picture but on my finger it's red like transmission fluid. the only red fluid in the car is trans. Its seems when its started it takes a few minutes to start smoking. I think it starts when the muffler gets hot enough to burn it. Oil, trans fluid and coolant all look perfect. In the next few days I will get it up and ramps and look for a way for trans oil to get to the muffler ( the car is in my garage were only I can get to it so not sure how that could have changed). Anthony wants me to pull the plugs and see how they look, I will look into the cylinders at that time. He also wants me to disconnect the trans cooling lines from the radiator and see what comes out. while it seems to me any of these issues would burn the oil in the engine I'm going to do them because there is no logical reason I can see for what is happening.
Thanks to everyone for your input.

 

Weird shit can happen. Step kid had an O/T K Car. Eventually the car would run fine and at the same time you could put a running hose in the radiator and the water would pour out the ex pipe like it was running out the hose.

 

Have you considered animals or rats & rat nests burning in the exhaust system.If you are not loosing any fluids it is either rats or your trip around the block never gets you to operating temp and a muffler full of condensation never being burned off . If its condensation you will need another exhaust system soon, that you just replaced.The old exhaust system full of rust holes let the water empty out through the rust holes and not burnt out, now with new it cant.

 

If the engine is running right, and you aren't losing any fluids (oil, trans fluid, coolant), I would proabably take it out and run it for a half hour or so and see if you can burn out whatever is in the exhaust. According to what I've read in this post, you didn't have the problem before replacing the exhaust, right?

Years ago when I taught school, I had students put an engine in a neighbors truck. His son had blown it up big time and when it expired it dumped a lot of fluid into the exhaust. When we started the new/used engine it smoked like crazy out the exhaust. It took about 45 minutes of driving on back roads before the huge clouds of smoke went away.

 

Did the cylinders get filled with trans fluid via the carb/plug holes for an issue or hibernation that you forgot about?

 

The muffler bearing automatic lube sensor needs replacing

 

Sorry, but if water is running through the motor that fast, and at that volume, and the motor runs well, there is something cracked, broken, or missing and the water is dumping directly into the exhaust system. Or, the motor was not running "fine". Turn the water hose off and I'm betting the motor had a bad miss, or there was incorrect information being passed along.

When my son was a teenager, he bought a turbocharged 4 cylinder car. He pounded the carp out of that car. Out of the clear blue, one day he decided he needed to change the oil, because there was a lot of miles on the oil (10,000 miles, according to him). Just after he changed the oil, the motor "blew up." He says it was the oil change that caused the motor to blow up. I suspect he was hoping that changing the oil would repair the already very ailing motor. Blame the oil change, not the lead foot. He blew up the next motor in about 10,000 miles also, that time it was the car's fault.

 

I figured a cracked head, water into an ex port somehow, but didn't look into it, junked it.

 

We poured in piped popcorn seeds into the stacks of my buddy’s Little red wagon pick up truck one time. After about an hour of driving he said he had popcorn for miles.

 

Check out this thread about oil being pushed out the trans filler tube on a similar era Mopar and ending up on the passenger side exhaust manifold.

If fluid runs down the manifold/pipe, its not out of the question that some could get into the exhaust system somewhere.

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=59117

 

Someone used to make fluid in various scents that you added to your gas.

 

Just to clarify a few things. Trans fluid is disappearing quickly and a red unburned oil comes out the tail pipe. Motor oil and coolant remain clean. I pulled the plugs yesterday and they looked good.
I gave up and dropped it off with my transmission guy just now. It was not smoking when I left, I believe because the exhaust system was cool. a mile down the road it was billowing smoke. when I arrived at the shop it had burned off and was not smoking. 5 minutes later when he pulled it in it was smoking again. Even he seemed to think what its doing is impossible.

 

Please! Keep us posted, we may all be in for a new lesson on what odd things can happen.

I had a buddy that was into Mopars for a long time, he always told me that with Mopars, never say never. I thought he was talking about things on an original option list when a new car was purchased, but maybe he was also talking about odd things that can mechanically happen as well.

 

I will definitely post the results. I just hope they figure it out?

 

I got the car back from my trans guy and it's running great again. No smoke or oil from the tail pipe. He did nothing but run it some. He thinks someone played a prank on me and filled the muffler with some red oil. I find it hard to believe. They would have had to get at it during the brief times it sat in my driveway and they would have needed a pump to get it to the muffler. A lot of smoke and oil came out so it was not a small amount. I'm going to keep it in the garage and take it to a few cruises and see what happens.

 

A prank wouldn't explain why you said your trans fluid was disappearing rapidly. Mopar trans fill tubes bolt right near the passenger exhaust. Is that tube sealed and dry?

-rick

 

Maybe you put MM oil in it before storage...

 

yes, the tube is fine. I'm going to drive and see how the fluid does. it may be leaking unrelated. I don't like the answer but it seems fine now.

 

I had put Marvel Mystery oil in the gas and oil last year. less than a bottle between the gas and oil. but that was because it was smoking terribly which it is not now. The oil coming out the tail pipe was not mixed with oil or gas, it was pure red and neither the gas or oil had enough to be noticeable. I had considered this but can't see how it got to the muffler without being burned.

 

that was my thought too,
did you or your buddy pull the plugs and put Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders?
or down the carburetor?

 

You said it was a new exhaust system. What muffler was installed? Wondering if the sound deadening in the muffler was either red/rusty/oil soaked/or became oil soaked from the engine and that's mixing with condensation and/or brake fluid? If you don't have a bad head gasket and you're losing coolant, brake fluid is the only other fluid I'm aware will create white smoke. This may be a unique situation where 2 problems are causing mixed signals.

 

you know the FoMoCo windshield wiper wash bag that used to be on the firewall of the '55 Fords?
fill it with transmission fluid...hook the outlet hose in an intake vacuum port....
give the little black foot pump a press as you cruise looking for a drag race....
make others think you have a worn out beater until race time....

is there any way the transmission is leaking onto the top of muffler, fluid finding its way into a seam...and it just appears it is leaking internally?
things are not always as they appear....