03 Transmission Randomly leaks

Hello All,

Sorry if this is not in the right location.

I have a 2003 extra cab 4x4 with an automatic tranny. A little over a year ago I noticed some transmission fluid under the truck. I took it to the local shop and they investigated why it leaked and could not find a leak or bad seal. They said it may be over heating so we put an aftermarket tranny cooler on it. This seemed to help at first but the truck randomly still leaks. I can not find a pattern to the leaking. I drive from NC to MA about 5 times a year for school. Some trips it leaks and others it does not. Also two weekends ago i drove to NY from MA and it leaked continuously the whole drive. Then last weekend i drove to the mountains and it did not leak. When it does leak the entire underside of the truck is coated in tranny fluid.

Any help or ideas on why this is happening would be great.

Thanks

 

May sound like a "no shit" suggestion, but make sure the bolts on the transmission pan are nice and tight. When i got my truck almost all the bolts had worked loose to some extent and began to seep a little fluid. Plus its free and easy to check

 

one thing I can think of is to take a piece of clean cloth, paper towel etc and wrap it around the dip stick just below where the "hat" stops when you put the dip stick back in and one just below where the upper dip stick connects with the lower dip stick... rubber band it, wire it on etc and look and see if it gets wet with trans fluid. It could be pushing trans fluid out on long trips, if not, you have eliminated one leak source. The O rings loose their flexibility after a while.