[machine head]

My T5 has started leaking pretty bad. I can't tell where from do to all the fluid evrywhere. It is somewhere between the collector (BBK longtubes) and the crossmember on the driver side. I thought it was the speed sensor but not 100% sure. I might have to drop the tranny and degrease it and hope to see a tell tale sign. My guess would be that it is coming directly above the collector since it appears that fluid had been possibly leaking (dripping) on the spot and getting burned onto it for some time now and finally let go completely. I think the crossmember got soaked from driving and the air blowing it back.

 

[bittersweetfox]

there is another sending unit that screws in the side besides, the speedo cable, reverse lights mayb?

 

[MFE]

Drop the tranny to clean it? Are you insane? Take the car with a floorjack and jackstands to the quarter carwash, jack up the drivers side as far as it'll go, hit it with some degreaser, and knock it clean. Drive it home. See where leak is coming from.

 

[Michael Yount]

And it's likely one of the existing 'penetration' points - the speedo cable/VSS or the backup light switch. Unless you've physically broken it (cracked the case, etc.) or recently disassembled/reassembled --- it's likely to be one of those two places. The backup light switch seals with a tapered thread; the speedo cable has a small o-ring seal. Is it possible that your longtubes have 'cooked' one of these bits? Check the o-ring on the speedo-cable/VSS. Mine 'weeps' a bit.

You can do what MFE suggested at home -- jack it up, liberally douche it with degreaser and hit it with the spray gun on a garden hose. That will clean it well enough for you to see where the leak is coming from once you drive it a bit.

 

[84tc302]

Also the PCV grommet on 86+ manifolds are known to fail. They are atthe back of the motor right above and could be leaking down on the tranny.

 

[bittersweetfox]

i bought a used t5 a few yrs back and put it in my car and drove around a day or 2 and didnt abuse it. then like the next day i took it out racing and it was smoking and all i could smell was burnt atf i thought i broke the case cuz i was abusing it pretty hard, but it ended up bein the b/u light switch, i was almost ready to pull it out cuz it made a mess and i wasnt sure where from.

 

[machine head]

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm gonna go out there now and remove the speed sensor and back up switch. I guess I will start with the easy stuff instead of dropping the tranny. I'll replace those two and see what happens.

Do I replace the lost fluid with ATF or Penzoil Synchromesh?

I will also wrap the collector with header wrap to hopefully prevent this from happening agin IF it is one of the 2 sensors.

Wish me luck

 

[Chads93GT]

id rather PRESSURE WASH it first, then replace parts 2nd. who the hell wants to swap out parts completely covered in grime???? do that and its likely you get that nasty #### on the speedo gear before you shove it back in the trans. Just goto the car wash, crawl under the car and hit it with the hot soapy water. Sometimes the way people go about doing things suprises the hell out of me.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Same thing happened to me when I replaced my speedo cable. Leak was right at the crimp on the cable. Had to fix the cheap cable by putting rtv and heat shrink over the crimp to seal it. Also double check the o ring inside the vss as well as on the outside of the vss