Questions and Answers

Transmission Needs To Breathe Q. I have a 1987 Ford E-150 Econoline van. The transmission leaks fluid from the transmission dipstick. It push's the dip stick up an inch and leaks fluid out of the top of dip stick. Transmission works great until fluid level gets to low. I heard that the transmission breather being clogged cause's this.

I think the little cap on the side of transmission with rivet in it, that spins around is the breather. I have used a air hose to blow around it. It does not make any difference. It is clean. I have changed the filter and fluid and still have same problem. The transmission shifts great and has no problems other than fluid leakage and clean up. I have 150,000 miles on it.

I bought it new and have taken good care of it. Fluid changes and tune up when required. I overhauled the engine at 99,000 miles due to fiber optic timing gear problem. This fluid problem started about 7,000 10,000 miles ago. Is there another way to clean transmission breather? It is really a mess on drive way and under van. I have never wrote for advice before so I hope I am doing this right.

Thank you for any help that you can give me with this problem.

Greg

A. I never tried to clean them. I always just replaced them. They are cheap and easy to replace and, to me, it doesn't make sense to mess with it.

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