[KSN380]

Hey guys/gals,

A few weeks ago, while driving, my transmission started slipping and acting funny. RPMs were going up really high. As if though I was driving on 1st gear at 60 MPH on the highway. Engine started smoking like crazy. It's been sitting since then. Too cold to try to diagnose the issue.

Today I was able to see the leak. I can see the leak but cannot tell what the part (in red circle) where it's leaking from is, or what it's called. The drip of the leak increases as as you accelerate.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sienile]

That is coolant leaking. It's those cheap plastic Ys. Not fixing this soon could cause you to overheat and blow your head gaskets.

You can get 2 of the Dorman 47238HP and replace them with metal ones, or get the full heater hose assemblies which are Dorman 626-315HP.

 

[Jeepman]

Hey guys/gals,

A few weeks ago, while driving, my transmission started slipping and acting funny. RPMs were going up really high. As if though I was driving on 1st gear at 60 MPH on the highway. Engine started smoking like crazy. It's been sitting since then. Too cold to try to diagnose the issue.

Today I was able to see the leak. I can see the leak but cannot tell what the part (in red circle) where it's leaking from is, or what it's called. The drip of the leak increases as you accelerate.

The leak and the engine "smoke" is likely due to the plastic Y leaking as Sienile said, i.e. steam. Does it smell or look like oil smoke?

Your transmission, similar to being in limp mode, is another issue. Shift lever in wrong location, i.e. set in a low gear? Any lights lite up? Transmission fluid level okay? Any transmission fluid (red oil) dripping on the ground?

 

[KSN380]

Sienile, thank you so so much !!! You got me on the right path for DIY repair. Watched a bunch of videos and am fairly confident I can do this. Quick question, because the idiot in me thought this was a transmission fluid leak, I put in a quart of transmission fluid. Should I drain what I put in? Or should I be okay?

 

[KSN380]

The leak and the engine "smoke" is likely due to the plastic Y leaking as Sienile said, i.e. steam. Does it smell or look like oil smoke?

Your transmission, similar to being in limp mode, is another issue. Shift lever in wrong location, i.e. set in a low gear? Any lights lite up? Transmission fluid level okay? Any transmission fluid (red oil) dripping on the ground?

Great questions and points Jeepman. So, the tranny symptoms I was experiencing could not be related to the coolant leak? For now, I'll start on the coolant leak repair and begin checking with your instructions above. Thx! Much appreciated

 

[Sienile]

Well, since you are having transmission issues, it might be good to do a transmission fluid and filter change. There's no easy way to drain fluid on these unless you've installed a pan with a drain plug (Dorman makes one of those too.). You should do this every 60k miles. The manual says 120k for normal use, but so many people have failures starting as low as 80k without it. Jeepman has a thread about how to get a rough reading on your fluid using the oil dipstick.

A 62TE Dipstick Revisit- Based on 80F and 180F temperatures

I have looked at many, supposedly helpful/sometimes helpful Threads, Posts and YouTube videos about measuring the 62TE's transmission fluid level, and only noticed one so far, that talks about operating temperature, not max or beyond operating temperature, or for that matter, doing a measurement...

www.chryslerminivan.net

 

[Jeepman]

You can take a "cold turkey" left overnight reading using your motor oil dipstick. I won't go there now, there's a process for that. A faster method follows as an indication of fluid level.

Engine and transmission cold, haven't been used for several hours.
Start the engine, run it through the gears, leave in park - idling. Then, using the motor oil dipstick, put it down the transmission fill tube about 16" until it bottoms out on a stop (doesn't go to bottom of the pan). Take it back out and measure the reading on the dipstick. It may be nothing or it may be a drop, what is it?

If it reads between 4 mm and 20 mm, the equivalent transmission fluid temperature would be about 80F. 80F is achieved at about 15 minutes of idling. That's an indicator of an overfill. Check it again at 12 to 15 minutes.

Fluid can be vacuum pumped out the filler tube. You should be able to get an overfill plus, out that way, even though the tube can be obstructed by the stop mentioned above.