1997 F350 leaking fluid from top of trans

[SneakyF350]

I pulled into the driveway from a short 5-mile drive and let the truck idle for about one minute while I was looking at something in my garage. I went to pull the truck into the garage and found that it left a huge puddle of trans fluid where it was parked for only that one minute! I had not been towing or driving the truck hard. It appears that the fluid is leaking from on top of the bell housing. I have tested it further and found that it consistently starts leaking after only a short, easy drive. I had all the fluids changed a little over a year ago right after buying the truck with no issues until now. The fluid appears nice, red, and new looking. I would greatly appreciate any advice on what the cause might be. Thank you.
1997 F350 XLT Crew Cab, Long Bed, 7.3L PSD, 4X4, Auto
186,000 miles

 

[gnathv]

Is your overdrive light flashing? I had a 93 that was giving a 62 code, convertor slip and it would heat up and blow fluid out the overflow on top of transmission.
Do you have a transmission fluid temperature gauge?

 

[MadMac]

No idea if this will help with symptoms… Mine just expired after having several “dump a puddle” events over the course of the last year. My pattern was somewhat odd, but turned out to include putting the trans into forward + reverse to back in a trailer into a really tight spot - it was reverse which turned out to be the key factor. The advice was largely that the front seal was gone, but mine turned out to be a bunch of things, not just the front seal. I’m not implying yours is “all done” like my A4OD.

One thing I learned from the guys who rebuilt it, which explained why “hot and in reverse” was key - the pressure needed going forward is ~80psi the pressure for reverse is ~220psi…

Thread is here: https://www.oilburners.net/threads/how-bad-is-this-trans-leak.91513/#post-1127088

 

[XOLATEM]

~80psi the pressure for reverse is ~220psi…

I agree that you need @ 220 psi for backing up...reverse does not have as steep a ratio as 1st....but...there is a minimum pressure to not slip the clutches going forward...and 80 psi sounds like just off idle pressure to hold without much of a load...but I am certain that little bit of pressure will not hold if you are fully loaded and stomping the pedal...

I have not looked at the specs in years...but I seem to remember that the minimum pressure when you bump it into gear would be close to 80 psi...probably about 65 psi just idleing in park...to reduce wear on the pump and load on the engine..

Then...the pressure control solenoid would respond to the ECM command to raise the pressure according to load...and it needs a good signal from all of its sensors to calculate load...the pressure can vary from off-idle 80-95 psi to...125...to possibly more under extreme load...

Some units...when they malfunction and do not have a reasonable pressure relief valve...can blow out the case around 375-400 psi...

80 psi seemed a little low to me for across-the- board pressure and I just could not let the internet have the wrong info...