Leak Question.. Vampire?

[shaunkite]

My truck has had a very minor leak coming from the right front under the air filter housing, dripping down onto the A/C lines. At first when I purchased the truck, I thought it was Freon coming from a cracked A/C hose. I have figured it out that it is actually ATF. I pulled the air filter and noticed a little bit of fluid at the bottom of the housing. Everything on the internet tells me this is a sure fire way to tell me my truck has a vampire. With that said, my transmission fluid is still perfect on the dip stick at operating temp and has not dropped at all. I pulled the fill plug on my transfer case and I did not have any excess ATF come out, it was right where it should be at the bottom of the hole. I also pulled the fill plugs on two hubs to see if they had any red juice but they were pure 80/90 and good to go.

I guess I should add that when I first got the truck, I went through all checked all the fluids and added a little ATF thinking it was low. I was stupid and forgot to get everything up to operating temp and may have overfilled it a little bit. (Nothing crazy) Maybe this has something to do with it?

I know Mikkel said he had replaced the transfer case at some point in the past so I am not sure if this was just uncleaned residual from a previous problem or not. Is there any other reason I would have ATF in the housing? I've put around 2,000 miles on the truck since I've had it without any issues, but stopped driving it this week until I can go through everything and find out what the deal is. If it is a vampire, is it as easy as opening up the transfer and just replacing the cooling hose?
Thanks in advance.

 

[3Hummers]

Dry out the air filter canister and keep driving the truck. See if more fluid shows up in the canister. If you do have the vampire there is more to it than replacing the cooling lines but let's verify you have the issue first. Mike S had just given that truck a clean bill of health. I am guessing this is the result of your overfill. Chuck has an excellent article on this on his website. Go to www.flashoffroad.com and look under transfer case vampire.

 

[Kurt]

Even a small amount of ATF coming out of the upper plug of the transfercase is no major concern or worry, usually when the vampire happens, it happens pretty quick and you'll have a quart pouring out of the fill port of the t-case.

One of the vent lines could be damaged somewhere and be causing weird suction issues, I'm with David, keep driving and keep an eye on it.

 

[LagunaH1]

Another option is to disconnect the vent line from the top of the air canister. -This will make it easier to spot any fluids.

I always tested trans fluid levels wth a warm truck, cycle the trans through all shifter positions for 3 seconds each, then measure the fluid level with the truck running. It was my experience that any other method was confusing and inaccurate.

With the previous t-case, the fluid loss from the trans to the t-case would be easy to measure and definitely noticeable on the dip stick. If the fluid levels holds steady over, say, 2 - 3 trips then i'd think you are good to go.

Let us know what you find

 

[shaunkite]

Yeah, 95% sure this isn't a vampire. Think it was just user error on my part. Ordered new filters tonight, got the inside of the air filter housing cleaned and looking like new and going through all the vent lines. Simple stuff, no biggie. Truck still running perfectly. Forgot how fun it was wrenching on these!

 

[shaunkite]

Well, just an update.. I am still getting fluid out of the air filter housing. Rechecked transfer case and hubs.. they are still good to go so I still don't think its a vampire. I think the transmission is around 1 qt overfilled. I went to drain some fluid from the pan but the drain plug stripped out (awesome!) It's been a few years, but if I remember correctly, can't I open a cooler line and drain some fluid out that way? I'm hoping I can get the fluid back on the dipstick where it is supposed to be and that fixes the issue. My only concern right now is how high the fluid looks on the dipstick. When I initially put the extra quart in after I bought the truck, there was BARELY any ATF on the bottom of the stick at operating temp. I put less than 1 qt in, and the fluid was almost to where the stick started the zig-zag bend.

 

[Paranormal]

Get yourself a cheap hand pump from Harbor Freight. See what size tubing it takes and go to Home Depot and buy the tubing. Insert the tubing into the dipstick tube and pump away. I use these pumps to replace the fluids in the Transfer Case and differentials and they do the job.

 

[3Hummers]

I use the same for pulling PS and brake fluid from the reservoirs.

 

[shaunkite]

I'll buy one this weekend. Thanks!

 

[shaunkite]

Bought the pump, got the fluid at the right level and the problem's resolved! No more leak-

 

[LagunaH1]

Very cool

 

[Paranormal]

Nice. Those pumps are cheap and are good to have when changing fluids.

 

[3Hummers]

Cool