Transmission fluid puddle on driveway

[fisdadsbonneville]

My car always drips a little oil but nothing major. Today however, I was about to leave when I noticed an extremely large puddle of Trans fluid on the driveway and a trail leading out to the street where I had backed out. The Trans seems fine, but I parked it just in case. Any ideas what this may be? The Trans has been fine and no drips since I've had the car. Last weekend was rough for it in Chicago.

[fisdadsbonneville]

So the input shaft seal was leaking. It has never dropped before so it was very sudden. We replaced the seal and the 1.5 quarts of fluid and it seems fine now. Hopefully I don't have the dreaded bearing issue. :(

[skregal]

I believe mine had the same issue.
The dealer fixed it under warranty, but I think they
had to drop the sub-frame to get to it.

Mine was the LF axle seal, and the dealer said it had
excessive play and replaced the clutch housing.
The repair invoice said $2500.00.

Thank you warranty.

[CMNTMXR57]

Yea, not a simple fix.

[fisdadsbonneville]

The dealer wants $4500 to replace the tranny. I'm having it towed to the local transmission shop later this week. The output shaft bearing gave out as well as the third clutch? The local shop is a large chain and they specialize in rebuilds. They seem to think that they can get it back together for $1700-$2800. If it weren't for the fact that I still owe $3200 on the car that I just bought in February, I'd probably be parting it out right now. I love the car, but man this sucks!

[skregal]

Sorry to hear about your tranny.
I think you will find that all the bonneville transmissions
do not have longevity built into them. I think it is
one of the weakest major components of these cars.

My 95 SSEi tranny went out at 92K miles when the car was
only 5 years old, and that car was pampered.

[CMNTMXR57]

Have you looked at finding a used one or a rebuilt unit already? The local chain doesn't seem like a bad price all things considered, just trying to throw more options out there.

[fisdadsbonneville]

Have you looked at finding a used one or a rebuilt unit already? The local chain doesn't seem like a bad price all things considered, just trying to throw more options out there.

The prices weren't aweful, but I just bought the car in February. I still owed $3300 on a car worth around $7000 in running condition and then it needed serious work... Not a great situation to be in.

All said and done I talked the local transmission chain into matching the dealer warranty of 3 years/100000 miles to ensure that the transmission lasts for the life of the loan. Also I got them to replace the front motor mount for no additional labor when I supplied the part and they also replaced the oil pan gasket set for me. Upon install they also did the manifold gasket and some rubber hose that broke for the egr... Out the door, warranty certificate, parts and labor totaled $3820... Could have been worse. The car seems to run a lot more smoothly now! The only downside is that it is now screaming low coolant in my DIC... I topped off the tank and it's still saying it. Super lame! And my Air Bag light is one because one of the front bumper sensors is bad. Where can I order one of these besides the dealer?

[CMNTMXR57]

Faulty/gunked up sensor for the coolant. Pretty common issue actually.

Try Rock Auto. Not sure on the air bag sensor though. Usually supplemental restraint parts from the collision catalog aren't readily available from any place other than the dealer due to liability issues should the replacement not work as intended during the inevitable...