I ran the car all day at our clubs annual event Run Through the Canyon, when we left the last stop i notcied a lot of smoke from oil burning on the header. I saw a lot of oil also dripping on the ground. I got home and saw that my whole passenger side header was dark black and i put a catch pan under my car and oil was just all over the place. under my car and my back bumper was just coated all over. So today i got under the car and i thought that maybe the cooling lines or line had come loose, but that wasnt it so i assumed the gasket blew out.

I changed the gasket today and used some rtv super grey sealant. After letting the car down to clean up and wait for tomorrow to pour the oil in (let me know if its a good idea to wait this long for the RTV to seal) i noticed that the dip stick top was not locked and that it was sticking out a little. Could the leak have come from the bottom of the fill tube from the stick not beeing locked down? I was hard on the car a few times right after we left the final stop, could the dip stick not being locked let the bottom of the fill tube come up and spray oil out? It was literally spraying all over the header and the frame.

thanks in advance...

pretty much, where do you think it leaked? and have you ever heard of this?

very well could be..also check around the kickdown cable or the cervo(its the circle flat cup lookin piece on the pass side behind the dipstick....

It could be from the front seal on the pump where the convertor slides into the trans. If so your bushing is wasted in the pump

in reply to pizzi...if this is so u should notice what would appear to be a rear main leak..only trans fluid of course..will be runnin down the converter...

i believe the converter is dry, i did not see any fluid running down the converter or dripping off the converter. it was all dripping off the fron tof the pan when i turne d the car off. it was dripping right by the passenger side header when running. Tomorrow i will pour in fliud and see if there are any leaks. i drained out about 4 1/2 quarts when i pulled the pan. I have the derale cooling deep pan. i will be pouring in about 4 quarts of fresh fluid then running it to operating temp and checking the level, that is if there are no leaks. wish me luck.

the dipstick not being in all the way won't make it leak- but it might indicate that the vent on the top of the case isn't working, and that the excess pressure found the weak link and relieved itself.
if you're lucky, it is just leaking out from around where the dipstick tube goes in- that's a $3 fix. the 200-4r in my Regal leaks there when i park it over the winter, but seals up fine over the summer when i drive it, so i'll just leave it until i get the stock trans rebuilt and take the placeholder trans out.
if you are unlucky, then it might be the front seal. i've had them go bad and have a dry-to-the-touch torque converter before. pull the tc cover off and see if it's all wet inside.
if you don't have a cover, the rotation is going to throw the fluid from a leaky front seal all over the passenger side header.

is it a stock style tube or an aftermarket chrome one?

its a stock tube... i hope its not the front seal. i have a new front seal for it already but i dont have the tool to get the old one out. i dont have time now to mess with it i have to head over to my second job. ill find out tonight for sure what the problem was.

novaderrik i hope it not what you say. i dont have a TC cover and the oil is all over my passenger side header as well as all over the frame on the passenger side. When i fill it with oil and start it up will it leak right away or will i have to give it a drive or a couple revs?

if it's the front seal, then it should leak all the time. but sometimes they decide to seal up for a while, and start leaking again days weeks or months later. that happened to me on a 700r4 i put in my 77 Impala- it leaked it all out going down the road, so i bought enough fluid to limp it home- and it stopped leaking. 3 weeks later, it did it again,but this time refilling it didn't help. i sold the car to a friend of mine, and he put a new seal and bushing in it and got 5 more years out of that trans in 3 different cars without leaking a drop.
if it is leaking from the front seal area, while you've got it apart, you might as well get the bushing that supports the tc in the pump- that's what's probably actually bad.

Oil on the passenger collector is probablly the 2-3 servo, had it happen to me.

well i just poured in the oil and i could see the spatter effect on my pan after a few mins of running it. You know im not that mad because one i have a seal for it already, which i did not put in because i could not get the old one out, and two i would not have the slightest clue what the heck would be wrong with it with out you guys, thanks i love you all.

here's my plan, let me know if you think i should chenge anything else while im at it. novaderrik im not sure what bushing you are talking about so if you could explain that more i would glady change it for you're probably right its gone bad. Also let me know what tool i need to get that seal out of there and what i should do when i put in my new one.

so i will unbolt the TC from the flywheel while grabbing the flywheel and turning the enigne over. The 700r will slide back 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the frame once un bolted from the block. next i will pull the TC off and change the seal and all that. I am even considering changing my converter to a higher stall. then put it all back together and wa-la!

haha, let me know if there is anything else i should know or if there is an easier way of doing this, oh yeah and this will all be done with a floor jack and jack stands, im not fortunate enough to have a chevelle AND a lift, like some of you here. Thanks again everyone i will get started once you all give me the OKAY!

anyone?

im going to start the work this weekend, what tools do i need to replace the seal and the TC bushing? thanks