Transmission fluid leak
I don’t think I could justify spending upwards of that, $400 or more, on this car. I suppose the best case scenario is that this is merely a leak that might only require a $2-$300 repair. I would not invest in a new or rebuilt transmission. I guess the worst case scenario is that the transmission is blown. I figure that any diagnosis and repair work will probably far exceed the value of the car. I’m not sure if I should spend any money for a mechanic to even diagnose this car because it’s only worth a few hundred dollars, if that. Now that I’m back at home, I’m trying to assess the situation. I put the car in park, turned it off, and haven’t done anything for about two weeks because I had to go out of town. I got out of the car and saw transmission fluid rapidly leaking all over the driveway. The transmission started jamming and jarring, rather than shifting. Suddenly, I heard some sputtering noises. Two weeks ago, I was shifting in and out of reverse and drive, trying to get out of a tight spot in my driveway. I have a 1998 Saturn with about 270,000 miles. With my limited skill set, determining what is leaking might be too tricky for me to do. In that case, I’ll just donate it without getting the diagnosis.
![transmission fluid leak transmission fluid leak](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/mme1Djf6iNSzD4JtsTOg_RpY3v0=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/dextrons-56a055905f9b58eba4afec1f.jpg)
![transmission fluid leak transmission fluid leak](https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/dodgeforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1124/20171231_134233_01b7cec04f24f22b9e620ab127ebae2002fa5c85.jpg)
I was trying to avoid sinking the diagnosis fee if, in the end, it turns out to be something that’s too costly to be worth fixing. I might just need to take it to the mechanic without really knowing whether it’s a big problem/cost that I’m looking at, or whether its one of these little fixes.
TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK HOW TO
I wonder if there’s anything anyone can tell me that would help me understand how to diagnose it further, and what the potential cost could be, ball park, for a fix such as a broken cooling line, gasket or seal (minor fixes) that I mentioned. My dad used to answer all my car questions and do minor servicing for me. I can’t tell whether it’s a cooling line, gasket or seal that is the culprit (or something else altogether) but it’s definitely the transmission. I listened to what most said and tried putting more fluid in the transmission to see where the leak is coming from. I posted my situation with my Saturn last weekend and got a few helpful comments.