So I had my trans rebuilt by a local shop last year. I did the R&R on the trans. Drove the car for the year put around 3000 miles on it, no problems, shifts great. Put her to bed for the winter. Last week I fired her up after the winter, drove it for a day, checked the fluids, noticed I was wayyyyy low on tranny fluid, hmmmm, nothing much on the garage floor. Filled it up, ran it around the block, and then I saw it, a nice drip drip drip, from the front of the tranny, behind the access cover.

Is the front seal the ONLY thing it could be?

Is this a common thing with storing vehicles for the winter?

Should I call the trans shop, even if I did the R&R?

I hate the fact that a $7 part is going to cost me a day on my back....

NO, the seal is not the only thing it could be. THe vent as well as the front pumpg gasket or O ring could be leaking.

It is the most likley though. Did the shop replace the bushing in the pump? If not that could lead to premature seal wear.

They are a reputable shop so I would HOPE they did. The fact that it ran fine for the whole year without a drop and then suddenly leaked like a sieve leads me to beleive it is the seal but I just wan to ask the experts here before I call the shop.

Check your fluid level again, warm and in neutral, not park. If by chance it's now over filled it could have foamed and blew out the vent at the top of the front pump. Just trying to give you something simple to check before ripping it out.

deep pan? could very well be hot it is over full and coming out the vent. If it's the seal and front bushing it will leak all the time low or not.
The reason it says to check hot and in nuetral is fluid expands like crazy hot.

get it hot and check again.

Yes, deep pan. No it was not overfilled. If anything it may have been a little low. Yes, it leaks as long as the engine is running.

Did you put grease in the hole in the crank to allow the torque converter to seat? Sometimes the torque converter hangs up in the crank and sits a little crooked causing premature front bushing and seal failure.

As teh guys mentioned, check the easy things first.

However, I had a failure once wherein the trans started leaking like crazy from the front, and it happened in the span of about 10-15 miles. It was fine for 4-5 years, then one day - not fine.

Pump bushing was shot. Don't know if that was the failure mode or a symptom, but a new converter (old one had a few starter teeth missing), new bushing and seal fixed it.

I had a TCI converter who's snout was not true and it ate up the front bushing over time causing a massive leak.

interesting things about the converter. It is a PTC 9.5" the guys down there are pretty good, so I would hope the converter is true, BUT.....

When I pull it apart, will there be an abnormal wear mark and where?

Mine had scrapes on the converter snout and the front bushing was scraped up. It was real obvious. The converter was sent to a local shop and completely rebuilt and it has been fine since.

please dont just replace the seal if the fluid is coming from there,always r/r bushing too.ck conv snout..clear the vent also when pump is out...mud-daubber wasps are a helpful in small holes. one like yours just showed up here at the shop today,so dont feel alone.