2001 Ford Taurus Transmission Leak

There are two or three things that might have happened. First, since the 01 Taurus is a relatively low-riding car, it is possible that your car may have gone over a rather large bump and, instead of clearing it totally, the transmission pan may have been damaged by the top of the bump because it scraped over it. You would likely remember if that occurred.

The next thing that might have occurred is as a result of the new transmission fluid. You see, transmission fluid has detergent properties so when you put clean fluid into your car’s transmission it not only enables the transmission to work correctly, it also works on any deposit buildups that are in the transmission. What may have happened is that instead of eroding a buildup into very small pieces that are caught by the transmission fluid, one of the pieces remained rock-hard and was mashed through various places in the transmission. It is possible that as the piece tried to get through all of the nooks and crannies within the transmission that it became lodged in one and caused an overpressure condition in the transmission. A piece of the transmission pan gasket could easily have blown out leaving you with the leak.

Finally, it’s possible the transmission case could have been distorted, believe it or not, by the heat cause when it was underfilled. Many people don’t realize that the transmission actually runs very hot. It can run so hot, at times, that it needs its own intercooler (radiator) to cool down or maintain an even temperature in a range that does not destroy the transmission fluid.

Like oil transmission fluid also carries heat away from the transmission (oil does the same in the engine) and if your tranny fluid is too low, the heat has to go somewhere. In this case, the heat goes into the transmission case and the case, especially along edges and joints where leaks can start.