Hey Guys,

The other day I was getting on highway at full throttle and which ended up with a plume of smoke behind me as my trans starting dumping fluid. I wasnt sure if the smoke was mine at first and I kept driving for a couple of miles until the tranny started acting funny.

The fluid is coming from inside the inspection cover, presumably from the torque converter seal or something else up there...

Any input or similar experience to help me figure out what the issue is?

FYI - The car is a 2000 SSEi with a trans from a 2000 Bonne SE (with an SSEi HD differential). The trans has about 90,000 miles on it after rebuild and fluid was changed when I swapped the tranny into the car about 40,000 miles ago.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

If fluid is coming from the torque converter area, then it'* likely you lost the O ring on the input shaft. It'* a easy enough fix, but you would need to drop the transmission to do that. Then pull off the torque converter and you will see the space for the O ring. Figure 209

Can't see the TCC o-ring being the cause. External leak like this would typically be the TCC seal that sits around the stator support.

The orangish/brown seal in this picture.

That is a possibility as well, either way, the trans comes out.

The TCC O ring on the input shaft would only cause a problem with the torque converter clutch.

Thanks. I read some stuff online that seemed to infer that the torque converter seal failing is not uncommon; Simlar to thoughts of billboost."External leak like this would typically be the TCC seal that sits around the stator support".

Do you agree?

Do I need any special tools to remove and replace the seal, or have you guys done this the DIY way just prying out and installing with a big socket or punch?

I guess in the end it doesnt matter that much because its only labor to pull it down and figure it out, Just dont have alot of time and am tired of pulling transmissions out of these cars and dont want to spend a ton rebuilding a trans on a $5,000 car :( .....But seems so worth it if I just need to replace a $20 seal to keep a pretty nice car on the road!

Yeah..I said TCC and meant TC. The last c being clutch, it'* early and the first cup of wake up juice didn't kick at that time. lol

I've done it. Not the most fun seal to do because of the location. Once you have the trans out though, you'll have good access to it and should be able to complete the job with regular tools.

Gotya. One other thing - There seems to be a some different TC seal part # for 4T65E-HD and 4T65-E, but the dimensions look the same. Is there any difference (I thought the differential and sprockets were the only difference between HD (ssei) and non-HD (se)?

I think the best for me would be the Timken 4072N since the trans and converter are out of a 2000 SE and the input shaft and converter are all techincally non-HD?

TMK there should only be one seal. As you mentioned, all the parts at the input area of the transmission are all the same until we get to the drive/driven gears and chain. Which you won't be anywhere near.

I've called and said 4t65E and gotten a seal w/o question on hd or not. Pretty sure either will work well.

So I pulled the trans. The torque converter has a crack in it.

So I am thinking I just replace the converter and the front seal (for good measure). I'm hoping nothing bad happened in the few miles I drove after the trans puked the fluid.

Thoughts? recomendations on a place to get a converter?