My Skyhawk decided to leak tranny fluid all over the place, I'm thinking it's coming from the front seal (but I can't tell for sure).

A few questions:

Is it safe to start the car? I know fluid goes from the pan to the torque converter upon starting, but if there is no or not much fluid left, will that just hurt things more?

Also, if it is the front seal, how expensive a repair might that be assuming a $60/hour labor charge? I don't have the equipment, know how or tools to do a job such as that

I have a manual, and can't help you much, other than say it is best to know your limits and know when you are in over your head. The water does get deeper for me every year though

You might look into buying a new or reman unit off eBay and having that installed if you are in doubt about yours. I have seen them going cheap for the 3 speed autos. You can rent a trailer dolly for the car from Uhaul for a fraction of a tow truck call if you have a buddy with a truck. I dragged my Sunbird home 3 hours when engine #1 died...

I can't tell you how much it will cost, but why do you want to start the car? It won't hurt to run it for a short period of time, but very long with no fluid, and you'll probably burn up the pump. Front seal should be a piece of cake to replace, however getting to it is beyond me... I'm sure someone on here will have an answer...

Well I can tell u this.U should check the input shaft seal where the axle goes into the trans on the driver side.Mines leaking like the valdese and the seal was like under 10 bux but You do have to remove the axle to replace it.As soon as I get mine rolling I plan on replacing both front axles which I have laying in my house now along with the seal.I hope to get sunny running this wk (get timing dialed in and dry weather to open the garage to do it).I will throw up a pic if need be of what to look for and the seal is not bad but,the work to remove everything is.

OK, here it is:

Wanted a Skyhawk real bad, had opportunity last August, bought it. I knew it needed a steering rack, didn't care, thought it would be easy to do myself, found out it wasn't, had it done.

That leak masked the tranny leak.

Now I know it's the trans, I'm sure it's the front seal, but there's so much gunk under the hood from the other leaks (valve cover before I bought it), I can't tell anything.

The bad: I know everyone on here will chastise me, but it is my daily driver for now. I knew when I bought it I would have to give up a few things to live the dream, and one of those things was I would have to use it as a daily for one, maybe two years depending on how this economy goes (among other endeavors I am undertaking).

So since I don't have the $ for the repair and won't for about another 6-8 weeks, I am stuck with using the wife's truck and am hating it.

Just because the car is parked, doesn't mean I can't make it look good while it sits, and this weekend will finally be nice enough weather to do that.

I want to steam clean under the hood among other things to spiff it up, and to do a proper cleaning job in there, I need to make it run.

I have no doubt in the well-being of the trans itself, was apparently a slow leak for a while, and is now to big to drive the car. The trans shifted beautifully when it had enough fluid in it, and I am sure it will be just fine when I get the leak fixed.

I'm thinking there's enough fluid in there, and I can always add more, to be fine to run the motor to temperature and I wouldn't hurt anything more--but not being an expert, am hearing other thoughts on the matter.

I would say if you're just going to move it around the yard, add some fluid, and move it around. Just keep an eye on the fluid level. Unless it's just gushing out, it shouldn't hurt to let it run a while... Cleaning is a good idea, especially when trying to find a leak. Just be careful steam cleaning. Remember you have a 20+ year old car with 20+ year old parts that may not hold up to high pressure...

BTW, have you posted any pix? I see so few Skyhawks, and am always happy to see pix...

Yeah, I was figuring as long as there was some fluid in there, it should be OK to idle and not hurt a pump or anything.

The good thing is I still have my shop manuals for Oldsmobile 1984 (including Firenza) from when I owned my first 'Hawk (my first car), but I was having a hard time finding anything in there for my tranny info (which is OK since I don't have a garage or proper tools and know how to do this job).

Sorry no pix yet, haven't had the $20 to "join", but I will as soon as I can (I had a HUGE irs bill to pay among other car probs, etc.) If you really want, I can email pics to you.

I still have all the plans in my head that I was gonna do to my first Skyhawk, and I plan to do them with this one. I'm just not going to do any major engine mods until I see which way the political winds decide to blow so I know if I will be going electric or hydrogen or something else completely when the time comes. There's only about 85K on this motor, and it is still strong and was taken care of (mostly), so I can wait and enjoy the full 85hp until the day comes for something better...

Thank you for the help.

You can post pics while your not a premium member, you just need a photobucket account.

I think I have one of those accounts, but dormant for a while, so I may have to rejoin...how would I go about that?

OK, the whole steam cleaning thing today didn't go as planned, only because I didn't want to gunk up my wife's steam cleaner. So I spent the day cleaning under the hood by hand. It looks a ton better, and there's still more work to be done.

I found my tranny leak in the process though--yea me! It is one of the two hoses that connect the coolant lines...now I just have to find out what those hoses are called and it should be easy for me to do myself (I'm no mechanic by any stretch, but I do like toying with the car, and am a fairly capable and resourceful type).

Since the Advance Auto in my area only seems to employ morons and a-holes, does anyone know what those hoses are called so I can ask for the proper part? I'm gonna just replace both hoses since I don't know which one is leaking, and also since anytime Frick goes, so goes Frack.